Ga. schools chief says AP Black studies course includes ‘divisive concepts’

ATLANTA – Georgia’s state superintendent said Wednesday he refused state funding for an Advanced Placement African American studies course because part of the curriculum falls under a Georgia law dealing with “divisive concepts.”

But Republican Superintendent Richard Woods said districts can still offer the course.

His statement came after Georgia’s largest school district said it won’t teach the course in African American Studies, saying the state Department of Education’s refusal to approve the course means its students would be cheated out of credit for the difficulty of the work.

The decision by the 183,000-student Gwinnett County district means political pressure on Woods is unlikely to ease.

Woods attempted to compromise last week by saying local districts could draw 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 tax money.

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

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

Woods has faced a rally where Democrats attacked the elected Republican, as well as pointed questions from Gov. Brian Kemp. The Republican Kemp sent a letter asking why and how Woods arrived at his original decision to block state funding. Woods responded to Kemp Thursday, but still hasn’t fully explained his objections.

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

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

Democratic state senators penned a letter to Georgia Superintendent Richard Woods last week over the Advanced Placement African American Studies course.

The letter said Woods is treating the course on a “separate but equal basis” and demands Woods meet with the senators “to explain why you believe AP African American Studies merits different treatment from other AP courses.”

Sen. Nikki Merritt is calling on Woods to call an emergency board meeting to completely reverse his decision to defund the AP course. She says the existing course code is an introductory course, not as rigorous as the AP curriculum.

If districts teach the course under the introductory code, students won’t get the extra credit that an AP course carries when the Georgia Student Finance Commission calculates grades to determine whether a student is eligible for Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship. It also won’t count as a rigorous course. A student who keeps a B average in high school and takes at least four rigorous courses earns a full tuition scholarship to any Georgia public college or university.

Woods issued this written statement on Wednesday:

To all, I wish to begin by apologizing for how I failed to effectively communicate my rationale for not recommending this specific course for approval to the State Board of Education. As an elected official, I owe all citizens of Georgia an explanation for any decision I make. To all our school districts, I apologize for any confusion that this may have caused as well.

At the completion of the mentioned course pilot year and the finalization of the course standards and framework, I was approached to either move the course forward for adoption or to not recommend. As this course had received much controversy over the pilot year concerning some content, I proceeded to read the complete course standards and framework. This was done to see if the course material violated Georgia law 20-1-11. This section of Georgia law deals with the topic of ‘Divisive Concepts’ as was initiated in the originating legislation of House Bill 1084.

After reviewing the content, it was clear that parts of the coursework did violate the law. As with most states with laws like Georgia on this issue that have raised concerns, the most glaring violation is on the topic of intersectionality. There are additional areas of concern, but this topic raises the highest level of concern. If the Advanced Placement course had presented a comparative narrative with opposing views on this and other topics, an argument could be made that the course did not violate Georgia law.

For me, this has always been about following the law. If I moved this forward for approval, I would break my oath of office and ask the State Board of Education and our local school districts to ignore the law.

Can students currently take a course on African American Studies? Yes. I passed an African American Studies course in 2020. Though not specific in content, districts have had the ability to offer this course to all students, not just those taking an AP class.

Can a district use the AP African American Studies standards and framework as its accepted content for the state course? Yes. Under Georgia policy, a district may do this without the State School Superintendent’s or the State Board of Education’s approval. Students may take the associated AP test to possibly receive college credit. However, the content may be challenged at the local level for violating 20-1-11 if all of the AP course content is adopted.

Currently, I have asked for legal clarification as it pertains to 20-1-11. There may be an exemption as it pertains to course adoption for not only AP courses but also International Baccalaureate (IB) and dual enrollment college courses. Should the ruling reverse my decision, then I will follow the law.

Once again, I offer my deepest apologies for my communication error and pledge to take the necessary steps to ensure that it will not happen again.

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