WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Fighting for care
TALLAHASSEE — Another clash between state education officials and the College Board popped off this week, as the organization said Florida’s restrictions on instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity have “effectively banned” an Advanced Placement psychology course.
The College Board, which develops the college-level courses offered to high-school students, said Florida superintendents were informed Thursday that content in the course violates state law.
“We are sad to have learned that today the Florida Department of Education has effectively banned AP Psychology in the state by instructing Florida superintendents that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law. The state has said districts are free to teach AP Psychology only if it excludes any mention of these essential topics,” the College Board said in a press release.
Gov. Ron DeSantis in May signed a law that bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for Florida students in prekindergarten through eighth grade.
Separately, the state Board of Education earlier this summer approved a rule that requires teachers to follow a prohibition on sexual orientation and gender identity instruction in high school, unless lessons are required by state academic standards or are “part of a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student not attend.”
The AP course “asks students to ‘describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development.’ This element of the framework is not new: gender and sexual orientation have been part of AP Psychology since the course launched 30 years ago,” the College Board’s release said.
According to the College Board, more than 28,000 Florida students took the AP Psychology course last school year. The 2023-2024 academic year starts as early as next week for some Florida school districts.
The state education department, however, pushed back on the College Board’s assertion that the course was banned.
“Just one week before school starts, the College Board is attempting to force school districts to prevent students from taking the AP Psychology Course. The Department didn’t ‘ban’ the course. The course remains listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-24 school year. We encourage the College Board to stop playing games with Florida students and continue to offer the course and allow teachers to operate accordingly,” Department of Education spokeswoman Cassandra Palelis said in an email Thursday.
At least one of Florida’s largest school districts has advised parents and students that the course would not be available for the coming school year.
The Orange County school district on Thursday notified the community that AP Psychology “is no longer a potential course option” for students.
The dispute over the AP Psychology course is not the first time DeSantis and state education officials have clashed with the College Board. In January, the state objected to several topics that were proposed for inclusion in an AP African American studies course that was being developed.
The controversy over the African American studies course prompted DeSantis, who is running for president, to say that the state would “look to re-evaluate” its relationship with the organization.
BATTLE FOR THE BALLOT
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody this week intensified the legal battle to keep a proposed constitutional amendment that would authorize recreational use of marijuana off the ballot in 2024.
In a brief filed Wednesday, lawyers for Moody said the measure “misleads” voters in a way to benefit the state’s largest medical-marijuana operator, Trulieve.
Tallahassee-based Trulieve has contributed all but a fraction of the nearly $40 million raised by the Smart & Safe Florida political committee for the proposed “Adult Use of Marijuana” initiative, which would go on the 2024 ballot.
Attorneys representing Moody, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Drug Free America Foundation have filed briefs arguing the Supreme Court should reject the proposal.
Moody’s office argued in Wednesday’s brief that the measure would help Trulieve continue its dominance in Florida’s legal cannabis market.
“This carefully curated ballot summary misleads in ways that, though sometimes subtle, are likely to influence voters — and to do so in a way that entrenches the sponsor’s monopolistic stranglehold on the marijuana market to the detriment of Floridians. The initiative should be stricken,” state Solicitor General Henry Whitaker wrote in the brief.
Trulieve defended the proposal, which has drawn briefs in support from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Florida Medical Marijuana Business Association and the Cato Institute.
“The ballot language is clear, states the chief purpose of the amendment and — without a doubt — covers one and only one subject. For these reasons, we trust the court will agree that the voters of Florida should have the opportunity to vote to allow adults in Florida the freedom to use cannabis for their personal consumption,” Trulieve said in a statement Wednesday.
The proposal needs ultimate approval from the Florida Supreme Court. Under the Florida Constitution, ballot initiatives must not be confusing to voters and address a single subject.
EXIT STRATEGY
As homeowners continue flooding into the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., regulators this week approved proposals that could lead to private insurers pulling as many as 184,000 policies from Citizens starting in October.
The move came after Citizens last week hit a total of 1,345,403 policies, compared to 486,773 at the end of July 2020.
Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky signed orders Monday approving the proposals by Slide Insurance Co., Safepoint Insurance Co., Southern Oak Insurance Co., Florida Peninsula Insurance Co. and Monarch National Insurance Co.
Slide received approval to assume as many as 100,000 Citizens policies, by far the largest amount, according to the orders posted on the state Office of Insurance Regulation website. Safepoint could take as many as 30,000 policies; Southern Oak, 25,000 policies; Florida Peninsula, 19,000 policies; and Monarch, 10,000 policies. Each could start pulling policies from Citizens on Oct. 17.
Florida leaders have long sought to shift policies from Citizens into the private market, in part because of financial risks if the state gets hit by a major hurricane or multiple hurricanes.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Florida’s restrictions on instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity have “effectively banned” an Advanced Placement psychology course throughout the state, according to the organization that develops the college-level courses offered to high-school students.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “An advanced placement course that ignores the decades of science studying sexual orientation and gender identity would deprive students of knowledge they will need to succeed in their studies, in high school and beyond.” — Arthur C. Evans Jr., CEO of the American Psychological Associationt.