High school students in Arkansas who take Advanced Placement courses in African American history will not be given AP credit for their work, the state department of education warned Monday. In March, Arkansas passed the LEARNS Act, a new law that banned the teaching of critical race theory without specifying what critical race theory is. Arkansas Department of Education officials claim African American studies could teach implicit bias and be in violation of state law. “Arkansas law contains provisions regarding prohibited topics,” state education director of communications Kimberly Mundell wrote in a statement. “Without clarity, we cannot approve a pilot that may unintentionally put a teacher at risk of violating Arkansas law.” Though students will not be eligible to earn AP credits for the course, they can still earn high school credits.
