A last-ditch fundraising effort to keep the AP Italian program alive will not be enough to continue the classes and tests beyond this school year, the College Board announced this month.
The language was added to the Advanced Placement program in 2005-06 under plans to double the number of language courses and assessments offered by the College Board. Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic were also added, reflecting the demands of the business world, government agencies, and development groups for experts in those languages.
But Italian seemed like the odd man out. A beautiful language and rich culture, yes, but learning Italian is not likely to open the same kinds of doors for students as others might.
Continuation of the program depended on advocacy groups raising about $1.5 million, a large portion of which was supposed to come from the Republic of Italy. The groups came up far short of the target.
