Fox News misrepresented the latest news about a controversy over the Advanced Placement (AP) history curriculum in Jefferson County, Colorado, falsely portraying a vote by the county's school board as a decision to “mak[e] history courses more patriotic.” In fact, the board voted to change the way the school district reviews its curricula, but it did not adopt the supposedly “patriotic” changes to the AP history curriculum, which Fox has been promoting.

Hundreds of Jefferson County high school students have walked out of class over the past few weeks in response to the proposed changes to the AP history curriculum. The original resolution, introduced by school board member Julie Williams, “stated that AP history classes should promote 'patriotism and ... the benefits of the free-enterprise system' and should not 'encourage or condone civil disorder.'”

Fox News has reported on this story several times, including hosting Ken Witt, the conservative president of the school board, to scapegoat teachers unions for supposedly “using students” as “political pawns,” despite a statement to the contrary by the president of the local teachers union. Fox host Gretchen Carlson even told students “that if they 'don't like it here,' then they should just 'get out.'” Fox's disapproval of these protests stands in stark contrast to the network's previous lauding of students who stood up against things like healthy school lunches and rules regarding religious texts.

On the October 3 edition of Fox & Friends, Fox host Heather Nauert reported on the Jefferson County school board meeting the night before, claiming that the board “voted 3-2 in favor of making history courses more patriotic” while an on-screen graphic read “A Win For Patriotism” :

NAUERT: The controversial history plan that sparked massive protests in Colorado still alive this morning despite students, parents, and teachers protesting for days. The Jefferson County School Board voted 3-2 in favor of making history courses more patriotic. There was a bit of a compromise, though. The board will let students and teachers get more involved in that process. [emphasis added]

Nauert's report, however, is misleading. Though she is correct that the vote allows for input from students and teachers, according to reporting from local TV station KUSA and the Associated Press, the board in fact voted 3-2 “to revise procedures for reviewing curriculum but did not specifically approve a review of AP U.S. History.” The report continued:

Ultimately the board adopted a compromise proposal penned by Superintendent Dan McMinimee to revise current review procedures to include students, teachers and other community members. But the committee that was approved is not course-specific and has not been charged at this point with reviewing AP U.S. History, according to Marlene Desmond with Jeffco Public Schools.

While another Associated Press report acknowledged that Williams “refused a call to withdraw her original proposal,” The Washington Post emphasized that “it's not immediately clear whether the committee will review the history course, only that the meetings must be held in public.” In addition, NPR reported that after two weeks of protest in the county, “the original language about patriotism was dropped,” though “the resolution still calls for a committee to review course materials.”

Meanwhile, FoxNews.com published an Associated Press story that also described the events accurately.