Florida Bypasses College Board With Conservative History Curriculum
Florida launches a state-developed history course that rejects the College Board's AP curriculum, offering teacher bonuses and a single conservative textbook as part of a broader conservative push to reshape American education.
Florida educators will no longer have to navigate the College Board's 560-page AP U.S. History syllabus. Starting this fall, the state will offer its own course built around a single textbook and a 214-page framework that explicitly rejects what officials call progressive indoctrination.
The FACT U.S. History curriculum launches as part of a broader conservative offensive against what critics describe as ideological capture of American classrooms. Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas announced the framework on May 4.
"Florida continues to lead the way in expanding access to rigorous, high-quality advanced coursework for all students," Kamoutsas stated. "The FACT U.S. History framework underscores our commitment to instruction grounded in the full scope of our nation's history, while ensuring materials are free from ideological bias or indoctrination."
The curriculum recommends one textbook — Wilfred M. McClay's "Land of Hope" by a Hillsdale College professor — compared to AP's recommended 21 texts. Florida teachers earn $50 bonuses for each student who passes the FACT exam, creating a financially incentivized parallel system.
Ryan Petty, chair of the Florida State Board of Education, framed the initiative as restoring academic integrity. "It represents an important step toward restoring academic integrity in the classroom after years of uneven and, at times, ideologically driven instruction," Petty said.
Florida's move converges with federal actions that have reshaped higher education policy. The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in Harvard grants in April 2025. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth cancelled military graduate programs at five institutions in February, calling them "woke breeding grounds of toxic indoctrination." The State Department revoked more than 300 foreign student visas for pro-Palestinian demonstrations in March 2025.
Texas has pursued similar reforms at the state level. Chancellor Brandon Creighton issued memoranda prohibiting graduate research on gender identity and sexual orientation at Texas Tech University. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into the University of North Texas on April 10, stating, "DEI ideology has been a calamitous way that radical leftists have pushed a woke agenda in our educational institutions."
Creighton reported this week that less than 2 percent of 14,000-plus courses reviewed required modifications under new scrutiny. The numbers suggest the administration's concerns exceeded the reality on campus.
Texas Tech students pushed back on May 7 with a "funeral for academic freedom" protest. Students dressed in mourning attire and gathered around a horse-drawn carriage.
"Academic freedom was murdered when certain topics were censored out of our curriculum," said Tara Findley, a public relations major. "It's partisan censorship."
The protest coincided with national criticism of the school counselor organization for promoting programs incorporating transgender ideology and critical race theory.
Florida's FACT U.S. History pilot program launches this fall with a May 18 registration deadline for participating districts. Credits transfer only to Florida public colleges and universities, raising questions about out-of-state recognition. The course emphasizes political and constitutional history, economics, American identity and foreign policy, contrasting with AP's focus on American identity, politics, culture and social structures.
McClay, the textbook author, endorsed the competition in an email. "The College Board should not enjoy a monopoly on the certification of advanced placement in this country," he wrote, describing Howard Zinn's "A People's History" as "simplistic melodrama."
Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute called the framework "rigorous" but noted its explicit framing of America as "a good, special place."
Florida stands alone with a FACT-equivalent program, positioning itself as a blueprint for national reform. The state authorized the courses through House Bill 1537, which Governor Ron DeSantis signed in 2023. The legislation followed earlier conflicts over AP African American Studies and AP Psychology curriculum. More than 500 Florida schools offered AP U.S. History last year, one of the highest participation rates in the country.
The structural challenge to educational monopolies extends well beyond textbooks. The Trump administration signed an executive order in March 2025 directing the closure of the Department of Education. The Supreme Court allowed the firing of 1,200 workers that July. Columbia University accepted a $200 million settlement spread over three years after the administration cut $400 million in funding.
Florida students who register before May 18 will be among the first to take a history course built outside the College Board's system. Their textbooks will arrive with a different vision of American identity. Their teachers will receive bonuses tied to test scores. And somewhere between the classroom and the capital, the debate over who controls the narrative continues.