Political meddling in AP course poses risks

By Seth Wall STAFF WRITER

The Advanced Placement Program is among the recent victims of political meddling. AP courses are offered by high schools across the country to “willing and academically prepared students to pursue collegelevel studies,” according to the College Board website. Its newest offering is AP African American Studies, now piloting at 60 schools and due to become available to all participating high schools within the 2024-2025 school year.

In a letter dated Jan. 12, the Florida Department of Education rejected approval of the AP African American Studies course stating that its content is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.” Further collaboration between the department and the College Board has stalled until the program makes “historically accurate” revisions, according to the FDE.

Political landscaping in Florida has become uniformly recognizable under the policy regime of rightwing politician Ron DeSantis. Now, in his second term as governor, DeSantis has introduced several pieces of legislation relating to educational instruction, such as House Bill

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Send your letters to the editor or other correspondence to: reflector@uindy.edu bill and only covered a portion of the ER bill. All in all, I owed around $5,000. And then it all happened again not even a month later. Urgent care, ambulance, hours in the hospital and $5,000 more. The antibiotics they had given me were not strong enough—which they would have known if they had tested my urine the first time I was at the ER—so the infection never went away. I left with another prescription for antibiotics and pain medication.

1557—better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

As the College Board website describes, each AP course is designed first as an outline. Individual educators or school districts build the curriculum, which is then verified by the College Board. This course is promoted as an interdisciplinary exploration of early African kingdoms, the migration as well as evolution of its peoples and customs and Black communities domestically. Additional focus is placed on the relevant histories that influence contemporary perspectives and expressions of Black society through “evidence-based learning,” according to the course description.

After all of this,I was still getting UTIs consistently. They were not bad enough to send me to the hospital again, but it was unpleasant nonetheless. I kept having to get antibiotic prescriptions from the UIndy Health and Wellness Center because they did not charge me to be tested.I began seeing a urologist after a few months of struggling. She told me that because doctors kept giving me antibiotics without looking into the problem, so much bacteria had grown in my bladder that it will likely never go away. And because taking antibiotics constantly makes your body get used to them, I should only take them from now on when I am experiencing pain. I also take supplements now for bladder health and have to do my best to stay hydrated.

Each urologist visit is about $200, with an additional $100 or more if I receive a test. The cost does not help encourage me to keep making appointments–it makes me feel guilty for seeking care. I know I should not feel that way, but it is hard not to. I feel bad for being the reason that my husband’s and my savings are being spent in large amounts.

Thankfully, I have not been having many problems as of late when it comes to my bladder health.Although,I have been dealing with a new issue concerning healthcare: access to my medication. I take Adderall Extended Release capsules to help manage my Attention Deficit Disorder.Due to an ongoing shortage of Adderall that began in October of 2022, according to the FDA, I have been having a hard time getting my prescription.

Now, I understand why the shortage is happening and that it was not intended by the manufacturers. My problem, once again, is with insurance. Because private insurance companies make partnerships and have “preferred” healthcare providers and pharmacies, I was unable to pick up my prescription from a pharmacy that I had been able to get it at before. I was told that insurance companies will allow you to pick up the prescription one time at a non-preferred pharmacy, but they will not cover it after that one time. Adderall is a controlled substance, which means that every time I want my prescription sent to another pharmacy I have to contact my doctor.So,I had to not only find out through trial and error which pharmacies even had my pills in stock, but I also had to call my doctor and wait for the prescription to be received by the pharmacist every time I needed it sent somewhere. I ended up going several days without my medication, which caused me to struggle with schoolwork and social interactions. It should not be this hard to receive healthcare for anyone. If I am insured and struggle this much, I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for those who are uninsured and not eligible for government assistance. According to a study from The Commonwealth Fund, the U.S. healthcare system ranks last among 11 high-income countries. The report said: “A high-income person in the U.S. was more likely to report financial barriers than a low-income person in nearly all the other countries surveyed.” It is time for the U.S. to adopt universal health care,as almost all other industrialized countries have.Healthcare is a human right, and I, for one, am tired of having that right violated by greed.