WASHINGTON — Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump is expected to announce Wednesday that he intends to sue Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been upset with his administration's decision to stop a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies from being taught in high schools.
Crump will be joined by three AP honors high school students who will be the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit, his office said.
The announcement is scheduled for 12: 15 p.m. During the announcement, Crump is expected to be joined by several Florida state legislators, including House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell and Fedrick Ingram, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers.
The DeSantis administration rejected the AP's African American studies program in a letter sent to the College Board this month, which oversees AP classes.
Florida education officials did not specify exactly what content the state found objectionable, but they said the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and lacks educational value. The state pointed out six areas of concern and works by Kimberl W. Crenshaw, Gloria Jean Watkins, known as her pseudonym bell hooks, Angela Davis, and other Black authors. At a news conference Monday, DeSantis and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. argued that the course is a Trojan horse for indoctrinating students with a leftist ideology, which is mandated in the state. The College Board said it would release a new framework for the AP course, which has been under development since March.
The Florida Education Department welcomed the revisions, even though they have not yet been released.
The College Board has recognized that the originally submitted course curriculum is problematic, and we are encouraged to see the College Board express a willingness to amend, said Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesman for the agency. The AP courses are standardized nationwide, and students across the country will have access to an historically accurate, unbiased course because of Florida's strong stance against identity politics and indoctrination. Lanfranconi said he was expecting the removal of content about topics that violate our laws, including critical race theory, Black queer studies, and intersectionality.