By Rashad Grove
The Education Department of Arkansas has removed AP African American Studies from its high school curriculum because of a new law that places restrictions on topics that can be taught in the classroom.
According to local station KHBS, teachers can still offer AP African American Studies courses but they are not eligible for early college credit this school year. Kimberly Mundell, the Education Department’s communications director said that coursework is not a history class.
“The AP African American Studies pilot course is not a history course and is a pilot that is still undergoing major revisions. Arkansas law contains provisions regarding prohibited topics,” Mundell said. “Without clarity, we cannot approve a pilot that may unintentionally put a teacher at risk of violating Arkansas law.”
One student, Ryleigh Gaston, who is a senior at Little Rock Central High School, expressed her disappointment in the Department’s decision to remove the coursework.
“I wanted to take this class because it has a lot of information about history,” Gaston said. “As a person who likes history, it’s just great to know.”
“All of us think that is just really sad that people are doing it to the course because lots of people really want to do it,” Gaston added.
Earlier this year, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order to “prohibit indoctrination and critical race theory in schools.”
“Review the rules, regulations, policies, materials, and communications of the Department of Education to identify any items that may, purposely or otherwise, promote teaching that would indoctrinate students with ideologies, such as CRT, that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law or encourage students to discriminate against someone based on the individual’s color, creed, race, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law,” the order read.
Sanders also signed the LEARNS Act which restricts lessons taught on gender, identity, and sexual orientation in the classrooms.
In a statement, the Little Rock School District said that they only became aware of curriculum changes over the weekend and Superintendent Jermall Wright is speaking with state education officials to “explore options that will allow our students to fully benefit from this course despite ADE’s decision.”
“At this time, we are weighing the options provided to us with the staff at Central High School and will decide the next steps within 24-48 hours,” the statement read. “Rest assured, we are actively working to ensure that our students continue to receive a well-rounded education that includes diverse perspectives and meaningful learning opportunities.”
Holly Stepp, a spokesperson of the College Board that oversees AP African American Studies throughout the country including in Arkansas, shared her disappointment in the decision
“On this first day of school, we share in their surprise, confusion, and disappointment at this new guidance that the course won’t count toward graduation credits or weighted the same as other AP courses offered in the state,” Stepp said. “College Board is committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts of African American history and culture, and rejects the notion that the AP African American Studies course is indoctrination in any form.”
Arkansas is the latest state to enact educational policies that target the study of African American history in public schools. In February, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the College Board’s curriculum proposal saying that Black LGBTQ theory and intersectionality courses are “not us. He also described the syllabus as “indoctrination that runs afoul of our standards.”
