Florida now says AP Psychology allowed in schools

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. sent a letter to superintendents Wednesday making it clear AP Psychology can be offered in its entirety in K-12 public schools. 

Over the past week, Florida school districts have been switching their course offerings from AP Psychology after the College Board indicated it would not accept the class as taught in Florida, due to the state’s new law that bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in most classroom settings. 

Diaz told schools last week they could offer the class, but it was not clear if educators would be allowed to teach the lessons regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, which the College Board said would need to be in the curriculum for the class to count for college credit.

On Wednesday, Diaz sent another letter to make it clear that no part of AP Psychology violates Florida law.

“As Commissioner of Education, I tasked my team with reviewing the AP Psychology framework at length. I believe I was clear in my previous letter, but I want to make sure there is no room for misinterpretation,” Diaz said.

“It is the Department of Education’s stance that the learning target, 6.P ‘Describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development,’ within Topic 6.7, can be taught consistent with Florida law,” he added. 

The news comes as some Florida schools have already switched to other programs that offered college-level psychology courses as they were fearful AP Psychology would not be accepted. 

Polk County Public Schools told its community it would be offering “IB Psychology, Cambridge Psychology, or a commensurate Dual Enrollment course” amid the confusion. Following Diaz’s letter, a spokesperson told The Hill there is “no change at this time” to revert back to AP Psychology. 

The School District of Manatee County will “take another look at what is best for our students and teachers” after Diaz’s letter, a spokesperson said. 

Other school districts, including the one in Miami-Dade County, took the risk and never switched out of AP Psychology and will continue to offer the course.

The Hill has reached out to the College Board for comment.