The Oklahoma Legislature is hard at work this year creating the greatest education system in the nation. How will they go about it, you ask? They are trying to ban Advanced Placement classes. Yes, the classes many of you took in high school just for the opportunity to attend UF may soon be banned in Oklahoma.
What started as Republican state Rep. Dan Fisher’s attempt at banning AP U.S. history classes may now expand to encompass all AP courses taught in Oklahoma. The state banned Common Core State Standards last year, and as a result some legislators are questioning whether AP courses are still legal. The legislation banning AP U.S. history passed out of committee this week by a vote of 11 to 4. Given Oklahoma’s recent banishment of Common Core standards, AP seems likely to follow.
Before you dismiss Oklahoma as an isolated case, you must understand that it’s just the latest state attempting to rewrite school curriculum to better suit a political ideology. Conservatives don’t want an educated society that may question or oppose their views, so they pass laws that ensure conservatism continues long after they’re gone.
A state senator in Georgia recently introduced a resolution condemning the AP history test, which follows a similar resolution adopted by the Republican National Committee last year. Sen. William Ligon’s argues the history exam is “a radically revisionist view of American history that emphasizes negative aspects of our nation’s history while omitting or minimizing positive aspects.”
Efforts in Texas have gone far beyond those in Oklahoma or Georgia, as legislators successfully altered their social studies curriculum recently. Issues like slavery and segregation are almost entirely ignored in these new textbooks, while some argue there appears to be an over-emphasis on Christianity’s influence on the U.S.
In an article published last year, Kathy Miller — president of the Texas Freedom Network — claims there are more than 100 pages of errors in the new textbooks. Not 100 total errors, but 100 pages of errors.
Attempts to drastically alter perceptions of American history in classrooms should terrify us all. Regardless of your ideology, politicians are rewriting textbooks to benefit their points of view, and the consequences could be dire. If you somehow feel it’s wrong for students to learn about our country’s mistakes, your superiority complex about our country needs to end.
Instead of finding ways to fully fund public schools, increase student performance and graduation rates or make sure students have the tools they need to succeed in the 21st century, legislators are playing political games with curriculum. It’s dangerous, foolish and a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.
As acceptance at the top colleges and universities becomes more competitive, high school students across the country may feel required to take AP courses to improve their chances to make it into their dream school. Now, legislators in Oklahoma — mad at the federal government over Common Core standards — are poised to kill AP classes that students want and need to gain college admittance.
If this is the future of public education in the U.S., start saving now for private school. We must fight the asinine policies of ideologues who seem determined to dismantle public education bit by bit. This year it’s AP U.S. history courses, next year it’s all AP courses, and within a few short years, it may be all advanced or honors courses.
Public schools helped build the middle class in the U.S.; don’t ignore legislators looking to destroy a century of progress and growth for our country just because some want to ignore reality.
Joel Mendelson is a second-year UF political campaigning graduate student. His column appears on Fridays.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 2/20/2015 under the headline “Legislators’ aim to ban AP classes political game, ignores reality"]
