ATLANTA (AP) — The state of Georgia is refusing to provide federal funding for a modern Advanced Placement course in African-American studies, prompting some school districts to cancel plans to offer the course to high school students.
Supporters complain that the decision by Georgia’s elected school superintendent will suppress teaching about black history, as authorities have done in Florida, Arkansas and several other places.
“The fact that AP African American Studies has been removed from our schools is alarming and an injustice to our students who have eagerly awaited this course,” said Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democrat from Lilburn, in a statement. “The erasure of black history from our schools is not OK and never will be!”
The State Board of Education, appointed by the governor, must approve a course for it to be eligible for state funds that support pay for teacher salaries and classroom materials. Superintendent Richard Woods decided he would not recommend that the board approve the course, but gave no reasons for doing so.
“Superintendent Woods has decided not to propose this course for state approval at this time,” Meghan Frick, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, wrote in an emailed statement.
Local districts can still pay for the AP course out of their own funds, Frick said. The state will not deny them credit for high school graduation if they do so. Frick also pointed out that Georgia funds a state-designed African American Studies course that was approved in 2020. That course does not qualify for credit for AP courses.
The AP course attracted national attention in 2023 when Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis announced in advance of his presidential bid that he would ban the course in his state because it pursued a political agenda.
In Arkansas, state officials have said the course will be recognized as a credit in the coming school year. Last year, they declined to recognize it because it was not yet clear whether the AP course complied with a state law that restricts the teaching of racial issues. Six schools offered the pilot course anyway.
Individual school districts across the country have also declined to offer the course.
As criticism from conservatives grew, the College Board removed several topics from the exam, including Black Lives Matter, reparations for slavery and queer lives, and was criticized for caving to political pressure.
A later set of changes includes more material on topics such as the Tulsa Race Massacre, the influence of black culture on film and sports, and discriminatory housing practices known as redlining. This framework will be used when the course officially launches next school year.
The College Board, a nonprofit testing organization, offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including math, science, social studies, foreign languages, and fine arts. The courses are optional and taught at the college level, and students who score well on a final exam can typically earn college credit.
In Georgia, the African American studies major has received little public discussion. But in 2022, Georgia lawmakers passed a ban on teaching divisive racial concepts in schools. It prohibits the claim that the U.S. is “fundamentally or systematically racist” or that any people are “inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” No one “should feel discomfort, guilt, fear, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race,” says the measure, which was based on a now-repealed executive order by President Donald Trump that was fiercely opposed by Democrats and liberal groups.
Sara Sympson, a spokeswoman for the College Board, said 33 schools in Georgia were piloting the course in 2023-2024. Some of those schools expected to offer the final version of the course later this year.
Georgia’s refusal to approve the course was made clear Monday when the state’s largest school district, Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta, issued a memo saying it would abandon plans to offer the course at six high schools. Schedules for 240 students must be changed before classes begin Aug. 5.
“We are committed to providing a comprehensive and inclusive education to every single student,” Gwinnett County Superintendent Calvin Watts said in a statement. “The 2023-24 AP African American Studies pilot was successful, and we are disappointed that students will not have the opportunity to take or receive credit for this innovative college-level course.”
In DeKalb County, another Atlanta suburb, rising 12th-grader Daniel Herrera was one of the students who pushed for the AP course to be offered at Dunwoody High School, blaming the “conservative-dominated” Georgia Department of Education for the cancellation.
“I think it’s important for students to remember everyone’s history equally,” Herrera said.
Angela Williams Pitkonen, who taught the course at Dunwoody, said 100 students signed up, the same number that normally sign up for AP World History.
“There is no reason not to offer this course,” Pitkonen said. “This course is not designed to make white students feel guilty; it is not designed to make black students feel ashamed.” Instead, she argued that the course would teach understanding and empathy.
“I think the old guard is uncomfortable with the level of empathy they see in their children and grandchildren,” Pitkonen said.
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Associated Press writer Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed.
