Message to College Board Leadership: Stand Up to DeSantis or Step Down
CONTACT: Jordan Wilhelmi | jordan@unbendablemedia.com
Human Rights Campaign, Equality Florida, and 30 LGTBQ+ and Education Orgs Among Those Condemning College Board’s Capitulation on AP African American Studies Course
FLORIDA –Today, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), alongside the Human Rights Campaign, Equality Florida, and 30 LGTBQ+ and education advocates, organizations, and experts, sent a letter to College Board CEO David Coleman, calling on him to stand up to Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Department of Education’s effort to censor the newly created AP African American Studies course, or step down and allow for new leadership that does not cave to political attacks on children’s education.
In the letter, the signers argue the College Board lacked transparency in their conversations with the Florida Department of Education, and, until recent backlash, failed to recognize they were “weak” in standing up to unsubstantiated accusations of the AP African American Studies curriculum being “woke.”
The College Board has recently admitted, “We deeply regret not immediately denouncing the Florida Department of Education’s slander, magnified by the DeSantis administration’s subsequent comments, that African American Studies’ lacks educational value.’ Our failure to raise our voice betrayed Black scholars everywhere and those who have long toiled to build this remarkable field.”
While the College Board’s enlightenment to the gravity of their inaction is a welcomed step to righting this wrong, NBJC and the groups signed on to this letter are demanding that the organization fight against DeSantis’ relentless attacks that have led to book banning, curriculum censorship, politically-motivated purges of educators, and an exodus of skilled teachers.
Their message is simple: If David Coleman cannot fight back against this attack, he should resign as CEO of the College Board and be replaced with someone who will not be strong-armed by DeSantis’ anti-democratic, white nationalistic attacks on public education that have made schools less safe for children and parents. Politics must be kept out of our children’s education.