SAN ANTONIO – A letter sent to Northside Independent School District parents is raising questions about how Texas Senate Bill 12 could impact students in Advanced Placement courses.
The letter says the law “places limits on certain topics that may be taught during the school day” and that “some subject matter that is included on the College Board AP exams cannot be directly addressed in classroom instruction.” It also says parents can request supplemental resources by email for their children to study outside of school.
Dana Fox, whose high school student is enrolled in AP Human Geography, said the letter was concerning.
“It was concerning, my high school student’s AP courses telling us that they weren’t going to be able to teach all of the subjects in the AP courses this year due to SB 12,” Fox said.
Fox shared the letter on social media where thousands of parents echoed similar concerns.
“I got this too for three of my son’s AP classes,” one person commented. “Texas is intentionally killing education.”
Another person commented under Fox’s video, “As a mom of a child taking AP classes in Texas, I am livid!”
The letter directed parents to contact their child’s teacher if parents wanted to request additional information that cannot be taught in the classroom.
Fox said the letter was the first indication that the law could affect the curriculum at the student’s school.
“Honestly, I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it,” Fox said. “We pay tax money to have teachers teach the things that they are good at and that they’re knowledgeable on.”
Fox said parents may not have the time, energy or expertise to teach the material at home.
“The whole point of taking the AP courses with the more rigorous curriculum and all of those things is to get the college credit at the end,” Fox said. “If you’re not learning all of the information that’s going to be on the test, it lowers chances to be able to do that.”
A Northside ISD spokesperson told KSAT the letter was sent “out of an abundance of caution.”
“Since then, we have clarified with College Board that we are fully compliant with state law while preserving the instructional integrity of the AP Program,” the spokesperson said. “We have full confidence that AP students in NISD are receiving the instruction and support they need to succeed on their AP exams.”
Senate Bill 12 includes restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. One part of the legislation says a school district, open-enrollment charter school or employee may not provide or allow instruction, guidance, activities or programming regarding sexual orientation or gender identity to students in prekindergarten through 12th grade.
College Board said it is not aware of any AP courses approved in Texas that do not comply with Senate Bill 12. The organization said it is following up directly with districts when they have questions about AP courses.
“AP exams test students on topics across the course’s framework,” a College Board spokesperson said. “In AP Psychology, Texas schools and educators have maximum flexibility to cover Topic 3.3 (gender and sexual orientation) as they see fit and in compliance with state law.”
The College Board said Topic 3.3 has been part of the course for decades and does not include required terms, definitions or concepts. The organization said AP Psychology does not specify instruction or activities related to gender or sexuality, and that those terms or definitions do not appear on the AP Psychology exam.
However, in Florida, a similar but more restricted law led to College Board sharing a press release about the AP Psychology preparation and exam in Florida.
College Board’s statement regarding the change in Florida reads in part, “the AP course asks students to ‘describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development. … Any course that censors required course content cannot be labeled ‘AP’ or ‘Advanced Placement,’ and the ‘AP Psychology’ designation cannot be utilized on student transcripts.”
The entire College Board statement on AP Psychology in Florida can be read here.
Fox said the lack of specific guidance about which classes could be impacted at Northside ISD has added to parents’ concerns.
“It gives us the responsibility of finding out what is that information, is it missing, where to find it, and all of those things,” Fox said. “They say it’s to help tighten our students’ education, but it seems more like it’s preventing them from being educated instead.”
Fox said she emailed the student’s school but had not received a response at the time of the interview.
“I’m worried that our students in Texas aren’t going to get as rigorous and thorough of an education as kids in other states are going to,” Fox said. “I’m worried that it’s going to hurt my specific student’s chances of competing in the job market that is already tight.”
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