Florida creates 'anti-woke' AP history alternative for students

Florida's war on woke is heading back to the classroom.

The state announced a state-developed alternative to taking an Advanced Placement (AP) course in U.S. history, which students take in high school to count for college credits.

It's another move in Florida's yearslong fight against "ideological bias," part of a newly developed program called the Florida Advanced Courses and Tests (FACT), spurred by a state law passed in 2023 against "woke" ideologies.

It's meant to offer high school students an alternative to AP courses to get college credit at a Florida college or university, according to the Florida Department of Education's press release May 4.

Starting this fall, the U.S. history course will launch as a pilot program. It's the second FACT course to be made available to school districts; the first was College Algebra.

The state law in question (HB 1537) was approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis to allow a pathway for new advanced course options to be created. At the time, the governor was critical of the College Board, the organization which created the Advanced Placement program, for pushing a "woke" political agenda through a new AP African American Studies course.

Florida has one of the highest AP exam participation rates in the country, and its mean score among students in the state has increased in over the last few years.

It's unknown, however, what impact this alternative course could have for students, since hundreds of thousands of high schoolers across the country rely on taking AP exams to obtain college credit.

That would still hold true in Florida, since Florida students could use their assessment scores from this alternative for state colleges and universities. But for students applying out of state, it's unknown whether those universities will take that credit.

Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios "Stasi" Kamoutsas said in a statement that this new option expands "access to rigorous, high-quality advanced coursework" for Florida students.

"The FACT U.S. History framework underscores our committment to instruction grounded in the full scope of our nation's history, while ensuring materials are free from ideological bias or indoctrination," Kamoutsas said.

Some of the key differences between AP U.S. History's 560-page framework and Florida's FACT U.S. History course's 214-page framework include its differences in learning goals and themes. Florida's themes include political and constitutional history, economics and political economy, American identity and national character and foreign policy; the AP course themes include American and national identity, politics and power, American and regional culture and social structures.

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at [email protected]. On X: @stephanymatat.