Florida's proposed cuts to AP, other classes leave schools 'deeply concerned'

Steven Walker, Orlando Sentinel on Apr 1, 2025

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State lawmakers want to slash in half funding for Advanced Placement, dual enrollment and other college-level high school classes, a move that would cost Florida’s public schools millions of dollars.

Orange County Public Schools alone estimates it would lose nearly $17 million, while the Palm Beach County school district said it could lose about $32 million.

Those “detrimental” losses would threaten the districts’ ability to offer classes many students use to earn college credits while still in high school, officials say. More than 193,000 Florida students took AP classes — the most popular of the programs — last year, tackling AP courses in a variety of subjects, from biology to U.S. history.

“There’s no way we could continue the breadth of advanced studies courses that we are currently offering without the funding. Period,” said Stephanie Vanos, an Orange County School Board member.

Losing AP and other college-level courses would make public schools, and the students who graduate from them, less competitive, Vanos added. About 3,000 Orange public school students took AP courses in the 2023-24 school year, according to district data.

Lawmakers said they proposed cutting the funding because they aren’t sure what school districts spend the money on currently. Some of the money goes to teacher bonuses, exam fees and the purchase of equipment.

But many districts reported spending the money on “other” items but provided no specifics, said Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, chair of the P-K12 Budget Subcommittee, which sponsored the bill.

State funding for these programs had increased significantly since 2021, but Persons-Mulicka argued that it wasn’t always clear if districts were actually spending the money directly on the programs.

The bill got a favorable 11-2 vote in the committee, and a similar bill (SPB 2510) is making its way through the Senate.

Schools get the extra funding if students are successful in those courses, which for many programs means they must pass the associated exams. Schools get an extra $865 for every AP or IB exam passed, for example.

School administrators said the cuts would reduce teacher bonuses available to those whose students pass the exams, making it harder to recruit and keep top-notch instructors. They also said it could mean some costs are shifted to families, some of whom couldn’t pay.

Such cuts “would be detrimental to our students and teachers,” said Debbi Hixon, chairwoman of the Broward County School Board.

“The reduction in funding would require students to have to pay for tests, labs and other educational experiences that many of them might not be able to afford,” Hixon said. “The funding also helps cover professional development for teachers that teach these specialized subjects. A reduction in funding is not in line with the states focus of having 60% of our students degreed and or certified to be career ready.”

The Lake County school district said it was “deeply concerned” about the proposal, saying it would “severely impact” programs, including the career-education programs it has pushed to open. Lake schools use “100%” of their funding to support their programs or to help open new ones at other campuses. Cuts, the district added in a memo, would lead to shortages of “skilled workers” and “college-ready scholars.”

OCPS said in a memo that much of its “other” spending is used to purchase AP, IB and AICE science lab materials, required professional software subscriptions, and research database access while other funds are spent to provide teachers needed training.

Instead of slashing funding, OCPS suggested the state specify what the funds can and can’t be spent on and require school districts to submit a more-detailed report on their “other” spending.

“OCPS understands the concerns surrounding the optics of carrying these funds forward, where it appears programs and schools are holding onto the funds and not using them,” the memo read. “This is simply not the case for OCPS schools.”

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(Scott Travis of the South Florida Sun Sentinel contributed to this report.)

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