Florida lawmakers consider replacing SAT with more traditional Classic Learning Test

Florida lawmakers are considering making a change to the way high schoolers in the state are tested for academic aptitude by doing away with the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and replacing it with the Classic Learning Test. 

In response to a public scuffle with the College Board over an Advanced Placement African American Studies course that was rejected by the state resulted in supporters of the AP course accusing DeSantis and his Republican allies in Florida’s government of white-washing history and suppressing African American studies. The state required the College Board to remove topics including reparations, Black Lives Matter, and others in order for the course to be reconsidered.

This week, DeSantis hinted at doing away with the SAT, which is administered by the College Board, as the standard high school aptitude test required for graduation from a public school in the state, and replacing it with an alternative. “Nobody elected (the College Board) to anything,” he said on Tuesday. “They’re just …  providing services, and so you can either utilize those services or not. They have provided these AP courses for a long time, but … there are probably some other vendors who may be able to do that job as good or maybe even a lot better.” 

While DeSantis did not specifically mention replacing the SAT with the CLT, state Department of Education Senior Chancellor Henry Mack Tweeted, “Not only do we need to build anew by returning to the foundations of our democracy, but CLT also offers the opportunity for all our colleges & universities to right size their priorities.”  

The CLT was designed by a former high school English teacher, Jeremy Tate, who set out to create a test that was geared more toward moral and ethical ideas being taught in the classroom. It is often used in private and homeschool environments, while most public high schools in the country have long used the SAT. Tate has indicated he has met with Florida education officials to discuss replacing the SAT with his test. “We’re thrilled they like what we’re doing. We’re talking to people in the administration, again, really, almost every day right now,” he told the Miami Herald.