Georgia’s largest school district won’t teach Black studies course without state approval

ATLANTA– Georgia’s largest school district announced Tuesday that it will not offer a new Advanced Placement course in African American StudiesAccording to him, the Ministry of Education’s refusal to approve the course would mean that students would not receive credits because of the difficulty of the work.

The decision by the 183,000-student Gwinnett County district means the political pressure on state Superintendent Richard Woods is unlikely to abate. Woods tried to reach a compromise last week by saying that local districts could get state money to teach the AP material by labeling it as a lower-level introductory course. That came a day after Woods said districts would have to teach the course using only local taxes.

“Withholding state approval for this AP course sends a message that the contributions and experiences of African Americans are not worth studying academically at the same level as other approved AP courses,” Gwinnett County Superintendent Calvin Watts said in a statement.

A spokesman for Woods did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday evening.

The Atlanta, DeKalb County and Cobb County school districts have all said they offer the course in some high schools. But Gwinnett County is perhaps the most influential district in the state, with others often following suit in a system that covers more than a tenth of all Georgia public school students.

Woods has attended a meeting where Democrats attacked the Republican-elect, as well as pointed questions from Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, sent a letter asking why and how Woods arrived at his original decision to block state funding. Woods responded to Kemp on Thursday, but has yet to fully explain his objections.

“My primary concern and consideration was whether it was more appropriate to adopt the AP course in its entirety of 440 pages at the state level, or to use the existing course code for African American Studies and keep the review, approval, adoption and delivery of this curriculum closer to local students, teachers, parents and boards,” Woods wrote to Kemp.

All other AP courses are listed in the state catalog, Department of Education spokesperson Meghan Frick said last week.

If districts offer the course under the introductory code, students will not receive the extra credit that an AP course carries when the Georgia Student Finance Commission calculates grades to determine a student’s eligibility for Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship. It also will not count as a rigorous course. A student who maintains a B average in high school and takes at least four rigorous courses earns a full scholarship to a public college or university in Georgia.

“Gwinnett works tirelessly to do right by its students,” state Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Lilburn Democrat who is Black and helped spearhead the opposition to Woods. “As a parent of a GCPS student, I just want my child to have the same opportunities as students taking other AP courses, should she choose to learn more about the contributions of her ancestors in a rigorous, college-level course.”

The Advanced Placement course gained national attention in 2023 when Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis prepared for his presidential campaign and said he ban the course in his state because it pushed a political agenda. In June, South Carolina officials also refused to approve the course. South Carolina said individual districts could still offer it.

In Arkansas, State officials have said the course will count for college credit in the coming school year. Last year, they denied such credits, but six schools offered the pilot course anyway.

Some districts in the country have also rejected the course.

In 2022, Georgia lawmakers passed a ban on teaching divisive racial concepts in schools, banning claims that the US is “fundamentally or systematically racist,” and mandating that no student “should feel discomfort, guilt, fear, or any other form of psychological distress because of his or her race.”

So far, 18 states have passed such bans. It’s unclear whether Georgia’s law influenced Woods’ decision.

The College Board, a nonprofit testing organization, offers Advanced Placement courses across the academic spectrum. The courses are optional and taught at the college level. Students who score well on a final exam are usually eligible to earn college credit.

According to the College Board, 33 schools in Georgia are piloting the African American Studies course in the 2023-2024 school year.