A statue of the Little Rock Nine rests on the Arkansas Capitol Grounds.
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Arkansas's last-minute decision to not count an AP African American Studies course for Advanced Placement college credit since of possible "brainwashing" released a firestorm that has not died down, in spite of half-hearted and demonstrably incorrect explanations pushed out by the state.

In today's Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said teachers in the six Arkansas high schools where the class was expected to be offered this academic year have not gone through a needed AP audit. That is just not true. The audit has actually been finished for all six schools, according to details from the College Board, the company that crafts curricula and administers the AP tests that enable students to receive college credit.

From today's Democrat-Gazette story:

Oliva said in an interview on Monday that the class is in its 2nd year as a pilot program and does not use teachers an "AP course audit" opportunity required by the state.

The audit is implied to determine whether a teacher can show "an awareness and understanding of the curriculum," according to the education secretary. He said instructors participating in the audit send a syllabus and course overview that is evaluated by college professors to ensure the instructor is "prepared and trained to take the course."

The language Oliva used mirrors language on the College Board site about their own audit procedure.
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But the College Board validated Tuesday that those audits are already in hand, as is required prior to the courses can even be used.

Several Arkansas teachers informed the Arkansas Times they've only ever done one audit: the one administered by the College Board. None remembered a different "AP course audit" from the state. The instructors confirmed that they've just been asked to send curricula and course describes to the College Board; the state has actually never provided such requirements, they stated.
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Indeed, details on the education department's site links directly to the College Board's AP audit in its section on AP programs. The Arkansas Department of Education's policy on AP courses makes no reference of a different audit requirement at the state level.

Oliva's choice to give demonstrably incorrect thinking to Arkansas's paper of record matches a pattern of dishonesty coming from the state education department about the decision to not honor AP African American Studies at the exact same level as other AP courses.

Oliva reportedly offered other deceptive declarations to the Little Rock School District superintendent during a weekend call.

The education department had not responded to an e-mail seeking clarity on the audit concern since this story's publication time.
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Now in its 2nd year in class, the AP African American Studies class is being offered in more than 740 schools spread throughout 40 states, plus the District of Columbia.

While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made a huge program of turning down the course outright previously this year, Arkansas is the only state out of the 40 where schools currently offering the class have actually had the carpet whipped out from under them at the start of the school year.

On Monday, the first day back for a lot of Arkansas public schools, the Arkansas Department of Education issued a declaration suggesting the AP class consisted of "indoctrination" and is "based on opinions."

The declaration went on to caution that instructors of the class are flirting with an infraction of the new Arkansas LEARNS Act, which includes a culture-war instilled area barring any lessons that "might indoctrinate students with ideologies, such as Critical Race Theory, otherwise known as "CRT", that conflict with the concept of equal security under the law or motivate students to victimize someone based upon the individual's color, creed, race, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, family status, disability, religion, nationwide origin or any other particular safeguarded by federal law."

The state did not define how the course might indoctrinate students, however said the course curriculum is not yet solidified, and who understands what the College Board might move in there? "Arkansas law consists of provisions concerning restricted topics. Without clearness, we can not authorize a pilot that might accidentally put an instructor at danger of breaching Arkansas law," the education department statement stated.

The state of Arkansas included the course to its list of classes accepted for state credit in 2022, clearing the way for a first-year pilot version of the course to be taught in Jonesboro and Little Rock for the 2022-2023 school year. The education department deleted the course code for the class on Friday afternoon, then sent out a terse email on Saturday early morning notifying schools of the removal.

This last-minute chicanery comes out of an education department under the management of Oliva, a current import from Florida who previously functioned as DeSantis' chancellor of K-12 public schools. Amongst her very first actions upon taking office in January, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders tasked Oliva with searching Arkansas public school curricula for wokeness and asked him to examine AP African American Studies particularly.

The class stayed on the state's list of accepted courses through the spring and summer season, and instructors at 6 Arkansas schools-- North Little Rock Center Of Excellence, eStem High School, Jacksonville High School, The Academies at Jonesboro High School and North Little Rock High School-- went through specialized training in recent months to be able to teach the course.

If they'll be able to make AP credit or get the bump to their GPAs that come with AP courses, students registered in the classes still aren't sure. Among these students is 17-year-old Penn Snyder, a senior at Little Rock's Central High and child of previous congressman Vic Snyder. Penn Snyder was particularly interested in the course partly because of the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black students who incorporated Central High School in September 1957.

" We are a country of fantastic battle and excellent triumph, and Little Rock Central High is the best place in the world to study that," Vic Snyder stated.

He's been staying up to date with newspaper article about the embattled course, but feels confident it will all get exercised. One factor is that the course is currently in its 2nd year.

" It's been taught as soon as previously, this last academic year, and no instructor went to prison," he said.

Snyder said he presumes any questions or concerns with the class slipped past the education department throughout the inescapable back-to-school turmoil. When they see how few trainees are included and that there was no problem with the course in 2015 at Central, Snyder stated, he hopes the state will change course, letting the class continue this year and maybe looking at it once again for next year.

" Kids' schedules are already underway. This is definitely disruptive," he said.

Members of the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus are also hoping the state will reverse the choice. Debrah Mitchell, president of the group, sent out Oliva an open letter Monday:

Dear Mr. Oliva,

The Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus strongly condemns the Arkansas Department of Education's last-minute choice to leave out the Advanced Placement (AP) course on African American Studies. We strongly advise you to reinstate the course as a wise core credit and acknowledge it as a sophisticated positioning course by College Board and pay for the AP test like other AP courses offered this academic year.

It was almost 66 years ago that Governor Orval Faubus bought the Arkansas National Guardsmen to obstruct 9 Black trainees from going into Central High School the night before classes started. This almost midnight action by your department is eerily similar to those methods from 1957. Rather than physical barriers, this current modification has actually developed financial and logistical challenges for trainees hoping to enhance their GPAs with AP college credits, and for teachers who prepared the course products.

In making this adventurous choice, the Sanders' administration showed once again how unconcerned and detached it is with Arkansas' wellness. They force states to tolerate extremist viewpoints at the expense of our children.

In Governor Sanders' reaction to President Joe Biden's 2023 State of the Union, she referenced the heroism of the Little Rock Nine and how happy she is of the development our nation has made. It would make sense, then, to permit our students a quality history education by learning more about the progress of African Americans in our nation.

Make a far-reaching bold modification and reverse your decision today!

Cordially,

Debrah Mitchell, President

Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus