The Florida Board of Governors is expected to vote at the end of August on whether to offer the Classical Learning Test (CLT) along with the SAT and ACT for public college admissions, a move that would make the Sunshine State the first in the nation to offer a test based specifically on the foundations of Western civilization and a “back to basics” education model.
A committee of the board of governors already met in June and approved the CLT as an option for the 12 schools in the State University System, the Tampa Bay Times reported at the time. After a two-week public comment period, the full board of governors will take its final vote on August 30.
In May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, signed legislation (HB 1537) at the True North Classical Academy in Miami that allows Florida high school students to take the CLT, as well as the SAT and ACT, to qualify for the state’s Bright Futures scholarship program.
If the Board of Governors votes to adopt the CLT for public college admissions, the schools could begin to accept its test scores for the 2023-2024 academic year applicants, Axios reported.
Such a move would keep with the DeSantis administration’s overall support for the classical education model.
True North Classical Academy, for example, is a tuition-free charter school that states its focus emphasizes the concept that “excellence of character shapes the hearts and minds of our scholars to want to pursue goodness and virtue.”
“With a curriculum, culture, and purpose built upon the classical liberal arts tradition, True North’s adherence to timeless principles produces remarkable results,” the school’s website notes.
As the Tampa Bay Times reported earlier this year, critics of the classical education model claim it is racist.
“Some observers say that a classical education’s hyper-focus on Western civilization assumes that the tradition and historical legacy of white Europe and America is the most important thing students should be studying,” the Times noted. “Leaving out more contemporary subjects could put some kids at risk of missing out on a well-rounded education.”
According to the CLT website, over 200 colleges throughout the United States are currently partnering with the exam and accepting its scores as a complete replacement for those of the SAT or ACT.
Among those, 14 private and faith-based Florida colleges are listed on the CLT website as schools that accept the CLT for admissions.
Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan that promotes the classical education model and offers curriculum and training for K-12 schools who desire to implement it, currently lists five “member” K-12 classical academies in Florida.
Hillsdale describes “classical education” as “the pursuit of wisdom through a cultivation of intellectual virtue and an encouragement of moral virtue by means of a rich and ordered course of study, grounded in the liberal arts; ascending through humane letters, mathematics, natural science, philosophy, and theology; and yielding informed self-rule and a well-ordered understanding of human nature, the cosmos, and God.”
DeSantis has made parental rights in education, rejection of woke curricula, and returning to the basics of the core academic subjects and civics all hallmarks of his administration.
Over the past year, for example, he has been engaged in a public battle with the College Board over its course in Advanced Placement African American Studies (APAAS), which has featured a study of Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory.
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Susan Berry, PhD is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
