Florida Eyes 'Classical, Christian' Test As SAT Alternative: Report

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida officials met with the founder of a test company that administers a test focused on "great classical and Christian tradition" as an alternative to the SAT and other college entrance exams, the Tampa Bay Tribune reported.

The move is the latest in Gov. Ron DeSantis' feud with the College Board, a private company that administers advanced placement courses and the SAT exam, giving students headed to college a competitive edge over their peers.

According to the Tribune, top state officials have met with Jeremy Tate, who said the Classic Learning Test is mainly used by private schools and home-schooled students. The test, he said, focused on the "centrality of the Western tradition."

Tate told the Tribune the SAT exam has become "increasingly ideological" and accused it of censoring "the entire Christian-Catholic intellectual tradition."

"We're thrilled they [state officials] like what we're doing," Tate told the Tribune. "We're talking to people in the administration, again, really, almost every day right now."

Earlier this week, DeSantis said he wanted to re-evaluate the state's relationship with the College Board, according to The Miami Herald. The governor didn't specify the changes he would like to make.

"This College Board, like, nobody elected them to anything," DeSantis said at a news conference Monday in Naples, according to the Herald. "They are just kind of there, and they provide a service and so you can either utilize those services or not."

A College Board spokesperson declined to comment when reached by the Herald.

The move comes weeks after the DeSantis administration banned a new Advanced Placement African American Studies course from Florida schools.

In a Jan. 12 letter to the College Board, the Florida Department of Education's Office of Articulation claimed that the course violated state law and questioned its historical accuracy, CNN reported. State officials wrote in the letter that the course is "inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value."

They told the College Board that if the organization was "willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content, FDOE will always be willing to reopen the discussion."

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Tweeting about the course in January, Manny Diaz Jr., Florida's education commissioner, said the course was rejected because it is "filled with critical race theory and other obvious violations of Florida law."

He added, "We do not accept woke indoctrination masquerading as education."

The College Board slammed the state for its comments about the class, calling it "slander."

"There is always debate about the content of a new AP course. That is good and healthy; these courses matter," the College Board said in a statement released Saturday. "But the dialogue surrounding AP African American Studies has moved from healthy debate to misinformation."