In Ron DeSantis’ Florida, Learning About Gender And Sexual Identity Is Prohibited. But Broward Will Let Parents “Opt In.” Miami-Dade Also Offering The Course.
BY: EDUCATION DESK | BocaNewsNow.com
UPDATE: The Palm Beach County School District, as of late Wednesday night, is again offering the AP course in its entirety.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Advanced Placement Psychology will be permitted in Broward County Public Schools, but only if parents “opt-in” — giving the school district permission to teach their high school students about gender and sexual identity. The permission is needed after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and his Board of Education, told the College Board that it couldn’t include gender or sex identity lessons in the exceptionally popular course. The College Board refused to alter the lessons. Nearly 30,000 Florida students enrolled in AP Psychology during the 2022-2023 school year.
In Palm Beach County, the controversy led Superintendent Michael Burke to drop the class, saying he fears teachers could be arrested. The concern: conservative-leaning parents following a “mom’s for liberty” agenda would fight against students being able to learn lessons typically taught in psychology classes. But Broward and Miami-Dade aren’t caving — saying the lessons are too important to ignore. The Broward County School District issued the following announcement late Wednesday. We’d like to know what you think about the controversy — use the form, below.
Official Broward County School District Statement: As Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) gets ready for the start of the 2023/24 school year, it is asking parents of high school students who want to take Advance Placement (AP) Psychology as an elective to “opt-in” to the course.
“Recognizing the depth and breadth of topics covered in AP Psychology and in line with the importance of prioritizing student well-being and parental choice, we have decided to make enrollment for this elective an ‘opt-in’ process that expressly requires parental consent,” said Superintendent Dr. Peter Licata.
Schools will communicate directly with their parents with information and a form to complete the opt-in process. Additional information about the course and curriculum can be found on the College Board website through the following link:https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-psychology. During the 2022/23 school year, approximately 2,500 BCPS students enrolled in AP Psychology.
BOCANEWSNOW.com wants to know what you think about the course. Should it be banned? Should it be taught? Use the form, below:
