A proposal to ban the teaching of some issues related to the role of race in American society has left many high school students and parents in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District worried that they might lose Advanced Placement classes.

The Placentia-Yorba Linda School Board will hold a study session Wednesday, March 23, to discuss a proposal to ban the academic concept of ‘critical race theory,’ as well as any teaching that espouses, among other things, that the United States is “fundamentally or systematically racist.”

But that proposal, if adopted, might put the district at odds with the College Board, the organization that administers standardized AP tests and the designation of AP classes. The College Board said recently that it will remove the AP designation from courses when required topics are banned.

Removing that designation would mean lower grades for many high school students because AP courses are weighted to count more than non-AP courses in the calculation of grade point averages.

District officials said they have reached out to the College Board to ask about its statement.

“The district has no intention to proceed with any action that would inhibit its ability to continue to offer AP courses and content,” district spokeswoman Alyssa Griffiths wrote in an e-mail Monday.

Some students said they’re wary of the district’s proposed ban because of the effect it might have on their grades and because it might mean limits on what they’re taught about American history, politics and society.

“As a student, this ban raises many concerns,” said Abigail, a high school sophomore who asked that her last name not be used for fear that she would be targeted by those who support the resolution.

“I really appreciate that AP goes in depth on a lot of topics. I’ve learned things about politics and social issues that I can relate to what’s going on now,” said Abigail, who has taken two AP classes so far.

“I plan to take through high school a total of 10 AP classes,” she added. “I want to stay competitive to get into colleges.”

In addition to offering students an edge in getting into college by helping to boost grades at a time when many public colleges aren’t considering standardized test scores, AP classes also can help students reduce their college tuition costs by replacing college-credit course work.

“We have a lot of high performing kids in the district who want to be competitive,” said Swati Desai, one of many parents worried that the district’s proposed resolution will impact AP classes and their kids’ chances of getting accepted into state schools that every year see new record number of applicants.

The parents point to the College Board’s statement from March 2, “What AP Stands For.” In it, the College Board delineated the principles of Advanced Placement instruction.

Those include “an unflinching encounter with evidence” to help students become “independent thinkers” who draw their own conclusions: “Evidence and the scientific method are the starting place for conversations in AP courses.”  The statement continues to say that AP opposes censorship and that AP courses foster “an open-minded approach to the histories and cultures” of all people.

“If a school bans required topics from their AP courses, the AP Program removes the AP designation from that course and its inclusion in the AP Course Ledger provided to colleges and universities,” the statement reads. “For example, the concepts of evolution are at the heart of college biology, and a course that neglects such concepts does not pass muster as AP Biology.”

The AP Program offers 38 courses, covering a gamut of topics that include the arts, English, math, science, social sciences, history, languages and world culture.  In 2020, some 1.21 million students took at least one AP exam, or about 4.1 million AP exams altogether.

Every year, principals and teachers submit AP course proposals for an audit process conducted by college professors who review course syllabi to confirm that the content includes specific topics and skills that colleges require for courses labeled “AP.”  Once approved, the school can label a course an AP class.

But if a school inadvertently omits or intentionally removes required topics from a course syllabus, that course will not receive an ‘AP’ authorization.

And if after getting that AP OK’d, a school censors or omits the required topics, the AP designation is removed from students’ transcripts.

A College Board spokesman, who was sent a copy of the district’s resolution, forwarded information on Tuesday but did not reply to a question about whether language in the proposal poses a conflict with the AP program’s goals or the standards delineated in the March 2 statement.

School board Trustee Leandra Blades, who supports the resolution, sees no conflict.

“We should ban CRT in schools because it’s racist. It pits races against each other,” Blades said Monday night.  “The idea that people are saying, if you ban CRT it will remove history, that’s false.”

“You’re not banning history,” she said. “You’re teaching history without the opinion or theory that there’s (systemic) racism.”

Critical race theory is a decades-old academic concept – typically taught at college and graduate levels — that looks at racism as being embedded in governmental institutions and policy. School administrators in Orange County and elsewhere say it’s not being taught in K-12 grades.

Related links

Placentia-Yorba Linda school board revise proposed ban on critical race theory topics
Superintendents in Orange County see ethnic studies as key to learning and to a just society

Critics call CRT a race-based ideology that pits people of different races against each other and leads to Whites, including young children, to feel guilty about the past. They say CRT concepts have trickled down into the lower grades if not outright being taught there also.

A flashpoint between the left and the right, critical race theory has been banned in a number of conservative states. While president, Donald Trump issued an executive order – since rescinded by President  Biden – related to diversity and inclusion training that described critical race theory as a divisive concept.  In the latest high profile mention of CRT, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz brought it up Tuesday while grilling Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, during her confirmation hearing.

The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School Board, where topics like face masks and vaccine mandates also have been hot button issues, has been discussing a resolution banning CRT since last fall.

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A current draft of the proposed resolution states that the district “values all students and promotes equity and equality, respects diversity, celebrates the contributions of all, and encourages culturally relevant and inclusive teaching practices.” The district, the proposed resolution continues, “desires to uplift and unite students by not imposing the responsibility of historical transgressions in the past and instead will engage students of all cultures in age-appropriate critical thinking that helps students navigate the present and the future.”

The draft also defines CRT as “any theory or framework that espouses or teaches that…. our race is inherently or intentionally racist and/or responsible for the stereotyping, scapegoating, and/or oppression of another race, whether consciously or unconsciously…”

Blades said later that use of the word “our” in that draft was a typographical error and that the word should have been “one.”

The district’s proposal is opposed by the American Historical Association and PEN America, a non-profit organization that looks to advance literature and human rights and defend free expression.  Both national groups wrote letters to the district in January.

At Yorba Linda High School, Juniors Camille Khong and Anita Tun became so troubled by the proposed resolution that they formed a group called Students of PYLUSD and began alerting friends on Instagram about the resolution.

“Being students of color, we’re concerned about our voices being heard,” said Khong. She cited a couple of incidents last year at the high school, including a racist poster – “Ur dad is my gardener’ – flashed at a football game against Latino students from Esperanza High.

Khong and Tun said it’s important to learn from history, flaws and all. And they worry that a ban on critical race theory could indirectly affect teachings related to ethnic studies.

“If this gets passed, it sets a precedent,” Tun said.

The students said the term “critical race theory” has not been raised in their classes. But they have learned about racism, they said.  Abigail, for example, said she learned in her AP human geography course that systemic racism has existed throughout U.S. history and how it’s been embedded in practices like redlining, a discriminatory practice that denied equal housing opportunities to Blacks.

Miguel Lopez, the father of a 7-year-old in the district who has been bullied because of his ethnicity, said the board’s discussion against critical race theory is a veiled attempt to undermine ethnic studies, which soon will be required in California.

“This whole process has been to water down or otherwise do away with state mandates,” Lopez said.

In California, all students will have to take a semester of ethnic studies to graduate, beginning with the Class of 2029-30.

Beginning in 2025-26, all high schools must offer such courses. Many already do, including Santa Ana Unified and Anaheim Union districts, where it’s a graduation requirement beginning next year and in 2026, respectively. Meanwhile, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified is looking to create a multicultural studies class that will serve as an elective, Blades said.

“It’s such a sensitive issue in the district. We’ll create our own curriculum so we don’t run into the problem of having CRT in the curriculum,” she said.

The Placentia-Yorba Linda School Board is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, at 1301 E. Orangethorpe Avenue in Placentia.

Related links

Critical race theory stirs debate in Southern California schools
New group clashes with O.C. Board of Education over ethnic studies
Opponents to ethnic studies travel to Los Alamitos, again, to fight school board