College Board supports Jeffco students’ protests
The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program, which oversees theAPU.S. History course at the center of the Jefferson County protests, said in a statement Friday it supports the teens and their actions.
“These students recognize that the social order can — and sometimes must — be disrupted in the pursuit of liberty and justice,” the statement said. “Civil disorder and social strife are at the patriotic heart of American history — from the BostonTea Party to the AmericanRevolution to the Civil RightsMovement.”
The board also said if a school or district “censors essential concepts from an Advanced Placement course, that course can no longer bear the ‘AP’ designation.”
Parents and students have been protesting a proposed committee that was going to review the AP U.S. history curriculum. As initially proposed by boardmember JulieWilliams, instructionalmaterial should promote “positive aspects” ofU.S. history and avoid encouraging “civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.”
The board tabled the idea for the panel at its meeting last week, and significant
cuts have been proposed by one ofWilliams’ conservative board allies.
Friday was the fifth consecutive day of student protests against the school board in the county, with about two dozen parents gathering at an intersection near Chatfield High School to speak their mind.
A spokeswoman for the school board on Friday said principals at Chatfield and Dakota Ridge high schools excused student absences from their Wednesdaywalk-out protest. The district said the students were offered the reprieve in exchange for returning to classes after about two hours.
The principals sent an e-mail to parents and studentsWednesday night saying the reprieve was a one-time offer that would not be extended to further protests, the district said.