The College Board accused The FDOE of slandering them for political gain.

Last month, the Florida Department of Education announced that they had struck down a new AP African American Studies course that’s being piloted by the College Board. The FDOE claimed that the class was rejected because it “lacked educational value” and was a “vehicle for a political agenda.” Florida claimed that they had filed their objections with the College Board, which would result in changes to the class.

The College Board is hitting back at top Florida officials over their ban on AP African American Studies, calling their claims "slander."

The organization said it should have come out more strongly against the criticisms sooner.https://t.co/SBTGexqF3P

— NPR (@NPR) February 13, 2023

This week, the College Board fired back, accusing the FDOE of slandering them for political gain. The organization said that they were already planning on adjusting the course’s contents, and that’s Florida’s objections had no bearing on their decisions.

“Florida is attempting to claim a political victory by taking credit retroactively for changes we ourselves made but that they never suggested to us,” the College Board said in a statement.

“While it has been claimed that the College Board was in frequent dialogue with Florida about the content of AP African American Studies, this is a false and politically motivated charge,” the statement said. “We had no negotiations about the content of this course with Florida or any other state, nor did we receive any requests, suggestions, or feedback.”

The College Board said in a letter that it never received written feedback from the Florida Department of Education specifying how the course violates state law, despite repeated requests. https://t.co/1xb1drDZYB

— ABC News (@ABC) February 13, 2023

“We have made the mistake of treating FDOE with the courtesy we always accord to an education agency, but they have instead exploited this courtesy for their political agenda,” the organization added. “After each written or verbal exchange with them, as a matter of professional protocol, we politely thanked them for their feedback and contributions, although they had given none.”