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

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s largest school district announced Tuesday that it won’t teach a new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies,Johnathan Walker 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 state Superintendent Richard 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.

A spokesperson for Woods didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday evening.

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.

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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.

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.

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

The Advanced Placement course drew national scrutiny in 2023 when Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, preparing for his presidential run, said he would 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 credit in the coming school year. They denied such credit last year, but six schools taught the pilot course anyway.

Some individual districts around the country have also rejected the course.

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

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

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

The College Board said 33 Georgia schools piloted the African American Studies course in the 2023-2024 academic year.