Youngkin Joins Growing Number of Governors Calling for Review of Controversial AP Course

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is the latest governor to call for a review of a controversial Advanced Placement (AP) course that was recently revised to remove tenets of Critical Race Theory and queer studies, Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Youngkin asked the state education department to conduct a review of AP African American Studies to ensure the course, which was revised on Feb. 1, complies with state law prohibiting the use of “divisive concepts,” including CRT, in K-12 schools, according to WTOP News. College Board, which manages advanced placement courses, removed several concepts from the course after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration rejected the framework, but maintains that it did so without political pressure.

“After numerous reports about draft course content, the governor asked the Education Secretariat to review the College Board’s proposed AP African American Studies course as it pertains to Executive Order 1,” Porter told the DCNF.

AP African American Studies is currently in its pilot stage and being tested at various high schools in the country through 2024, the College Board website reads. It was first tested at 60 schools during the 2022-2023 academic year and intended to expand to “hundreds” of high schools during 2023-2024 before it can be offered in all public high schools the following academic year.

The selection of offered AP courses is made by local school divisions and not by the state Board of Education, a source familiar with the matter told the DCNF. Learning standards and curriculum, on the other hand, do go through the state Department of Education… (Excerpt from The Daily Caller and The Virginia Star)