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Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.

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Editors Note: since publication, a couple of small clarifications have been made.

Advanced Placement (AP) courses have been part of high school curriculum since the early 1950s. There were initially 11 subject areas in which high school students could take courses similar to those found in 101-level college classes and, if they passed a standard test with a high enough mark at the end of the year, earn college credit for the work. The AP curriculum has given college-bound high schoolers an elective opportunity to skip the fundamentals when they enter their higher educational institution and not only save money, but save time and create space to study more subjects during their time at university.

The number of students taking AP tests has grown dramatically, especially in the last decade. This is in part due to readiness by students and in part because there are so many more subjects offered as part of the program. As of writing, there are 38 different AP subject areas ranging from art to language, science to math, literature to social sciences, history, and more.

It should, at this point, be little surprise to hear that these courses and their accompanying curriculum have become areas where politicians and parents eager to dismantle public goodsschools and libraries specificallyare turning more and more attention.

AP African American Studies, launched in the 2022-2023 school year, has been one of the prime targets. The course, developed in order to better educate and promote the history and contributions of African Americans throughout US history, was piloted at fewer than 70 high schools before its much wider launch to over 800 in the 2023-2024 school year. Due to both racist beliefs and racist legislation targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, the course has been challenged in several states and either revoked or preemptively banned in districts throughout the country. Indeed, this era in book banning was marked by a right-wing moral panic over Critical Race Theory (CRT) and ongoing rhetoric around how books like The 1619 Project made white kids feel bad.

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In early 2023, Floridas governor, Ron DeSantis, demanded that the course be revised to fit the requirements the state places on the kinds of books and materials that can be taught in public schools (this debate had been happening in the state legislature since its announcement in 2022). This led to Illinoiss governor, J.B. Pritzker, to fire back, stating that, unlike Florida, Illinois would not demand changes to the curriculum and planned to allow students to take the course exactly as it was planned. This high-profile debate was about the AP course, but it also was not about the course at all. It was about who has the power to determine what hundreds of thousands of high school students would be allowed to access based on what their state government decreed appropriate or inappropriate.

Without a lot of pressindeed, the South Carolina Department of Education Supervisor Ellen Weaver has done a lot of things without national press attention given to others whove done equally damaging thingsthe state of South Carolina eliminated AP African American Studies courses in public schools this year as well (students may take it as an elective in individual high schools, but it would not be supported at the state level meaning students may not get credit toward graduation requirements for taking the course). The reasons listed are unclear, though what is clear is the underlying belief by Weaver and her department that the course doesnt teach accurate African American history. Arkansas, in the days before the 2023-2024 school year began, also dropped support for the course.

These courses have been subject to cancelation at the local level, too. Harford County, Maryland, has been debating whether or not to allow the AP African American Studies course to happen in their district. The board canceled the course in June, claiming it was too divisive, then this month, reversed their decision. A story about the increasing popularity of the course in Montgomery County, Maryland, counters what the board in Harford initially said; what neither points to more succinctly is that the popularity of the course corresponds with the course being out of its pilot stage and open to wider enrollment (and, of course, student interest).

Its not only the AP African American Studies course struggling under right-wing legislation. Others are as well, for reasons similar to those relating to the AP African American Studies course and for reasons of the changing targets of this current wave of censorship. As we moved from the CRT rhetoric to the pornography rhetoric, so, too, we see the issue at heart in other AP courses.

Elmbrook School District (Wisconsin), is comprised of the Village of Elm Grove and City of Brookfield, two Milwaukee suburbs. Currently under debate in the district is whether or not two texts selected for the AP Literature curriculumtexts that have been part of the curriculum following board-approved policies for at least a decadeare pornographic and thus, inappropriate for the classroom.

In a meeting of the Teaching and Learning Committee, two of three members voted to amend the AP Lit curriculum by eliminating The Handmaids Tale and The Kite Runner. They argued that the books were pornographic and they would never want their own children to read them. The titles being taught in the classroom with minor students would be inappropriate. In the history of the books being taught in the district, no parents have opted their child out of the books. AP Lit is an elective upper level course, meaning the majority of students are 17 or 18. Two of the three members of that committee are supported and backed by WisRed, a group whose sole purpose is to elect conservative people into positions of power and turn Wisconsin red. That includes Sam Hughes, backed by this group as well to the tune of over $6,100; hes also backed by the 1776 Project PAC. (There is a third board member not on the committee, Linda Boucher, who is also backed by WisRed).

The final decision has yet to be made, though it likely will in August. The full school board, minus the board president who was on vacation, discussed the AP Lit curriculum at their July meeting, which you can watch here beginning at minute 43. Most speakers defended the books, and their prepared statements are well worth listening to (one parent talked about how he read both books and found The Handmaids Tale tame, given the accusations against it). But also among the individuals are those who showed up to provide public comment are those with a specific political agenda and philosophy in mind. Jacki Rynish-Knapp, who speaks at the 1:22 mark, suggests removing the books from curriculum is fine because the books will still be available elsewhere. Jackie is friends with Nicole Hunker, who lost her bid to become an Elmbrook School board member earlier this year.

Then, theres Jacob Melin. Hes not a district resident but brought a couple of questions to the board. What Melin doesnt mention is that hes an aide to Wisconsin State Assembly member Tom Michalski, one of the sponsors of a state parental rights bill in 2023 and coauthor of failed Assembly Bill 308, which would criminalize librarians and educators for possessing obscene material.

If these books are of concern and, in the words of those seeking to remove them, potentially illegal, then why have they been approved and used in the curriculum so long before without complaint?

The situation in Elmbrook, like those replicated throughout the country, isnt about protecting young people. Its about scoring political points on the backs of those very students. When your targets are those who have no voting rights and whose voices are constantly undermined, derided, and ignored, theres no actual game being played. This is simply power begetting power, with the intention of making it impossible for others to better themselves and push back.

Like public libraries and higher education more broadly, of course programs like the AP are a prime target for censorship. These stories are not one-offs, but almost certainly, over the next year, as public education is further dismantled by right-wing politics and voucher entitlement programs, AP courses will continue to be picked apart, watered down, or eliminated altogether in the name of appropriateness, whatever the flavor of that idea is that moment.

The rest is here:
The Ongoing Censorship of High School Advanced Placement Courses: Book Censorship News, July 26, 2024 - Book Riot