No, in my opinion that is the fallacy…that the AP brand trumps a good teacher with a good curriculum geared toward students who are willing to take a rigorous class. Kids don’t get to take the rigorous classes in my kids’ high school without having passed the prerequisite course. Plus the 5 AP classes their final grade is based on the AP exam…so a 5 is an A, a 4 a B, a 3 a C…so kids don’t take any of the 5 AP classes that are offered without thinking about the outcome. The control is the school administration and teachers…if they want to pay money they do If they want to “water” down the class so more take it by not grading with difficulty n the end or making the AP test “optional” then they will…and in turn taxpayers pay for. Same with IB. It costs money for the schools to “buy” that curriculum.