Jane Miriam Epperson Brinley, a teacher of Latin at St. Anselm’s Abbey School in Washington, D.C., expresses sorrow in a Washington Post opinion piece that the College Board will give the Advanced Placement Latin Literature exam for the last time this month.
It will continue to offer an AP Latin exam that still includes test questions on author Virgil, she says, but is halting the Latin exam that covers Cicero and four lyric poets. Brinley is afraid that the cancellation of the exam will lead to reduced student enrollment in Latin courses, and a demise of course offerings across the country.
Here’s a teacher who is expressing her deeply felt appreciation for a subject matter that is not taught in many U.S. schools, and, if she is right in her predictions, may soon be taught in even fewer.