Conservatives on Twitter heaped praise on Gov. Ron DeSantis after the Florida Department of Education (DOE) compelled the College Board to cut woke content from a proposed AP African American studies course.
After a previous version of the course containing inappropriate ideological material was rejected for state high schools by the DOE, the College Board revised it to have all elements of Critical Race Theory, gender theory, and other woke items stripped from it.
The New York Times reported, "The College Board purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience and Black feminism. It ushered out some politically fraught topics, like Black Lives Matter, from the formal curriculum."
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Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. recently explained the DOE’s decision for rejecting the earlier version of the course, tweeting, "Florida rejected an AP course filled with Critical Race Theory and other obvious violations of Florida law. We proudly require the teaching of African American history. We do not accept woke indoctrination masquerading as education."
Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla. also signaled his support for the DOE rejecting the original course. He stated, "This course on Black history, what’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory. Now, who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda."
Though David Coleman, head of the College Board, told the New York Times these changes were not made in response to political pressure.
After the College Board advised its course – and despite Coleman’s insistence that DeSantis didn’t influence its decision – conservatives on Twitter hailed it as a "win" for the governor and his Republican administration.
National Review editor Rich Lowry praised the Florida governor, tweeting, "The details will matter, but at first blush this looks like a major victory for Ron DeSantis, who was willing to endure ridiculous smears to force the College Board to remove at least the most indefensible, politicized elements of its AP course. Well done."
Axios senior political correspondent Josh Kraushaar acknowledged the scoreboard between DeSantis and The College Board, tweeting, "DeSantis 1, College Board 0."
Senior CNN commentator Scott Jennings claimed that DeSantis’ apparent win sets him apart from former President Donald Trump. He wrote, "DeSantis knows how to finish these fights. Trump never did."
While pushing back on Trump’s recent criticism of the governor, conservative writer John Cardillo cited DeSantis’ wins, including this most recent one. He tweeted, "‘Globalist RINO’ DeSantis gave FL a $24 billion budget surplus, crushed CRT, protects kids from groomers, will sign constitutional carry, pulled Disney's special status, ignored Fauci, and wants relocation of illegals in the FL budget. Win after win."
National Review’s Jeffrey Blehar tweeted the DeSantis administration’s handling of the College Board is "a substantive achievement with national repercussions."
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., celebrated the course’s change, tweeting, "The College Board removed its woke curriculum from its AP African-American Studies course following @GovRonDeSantis' objections to the blatant indoctrination in the course syllabus. This is a HUGE win for our state & the future of children's education! TY, Gov!"
