Dive Brief:
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Georgia schools will be able to use state funding to offer the College Board's Advanced Placement African American Studies course, after Georgia State Superintendent Richard Woods walked back an apparent move to deny approval.
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The move came last week after some school districts in the state had reportedly canceled plans to teach the course when Woods refused to recommend it to the State Board of Education for adoption, and after the state superintendent's decision sparked an inquiry from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
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The AP African American Studies course has faced scrutiny from conservative lawmakers after Florida's Department of Education and Gov. Ron DeSantis singled it out in 2023 as lacking "educational value" and conflicting with state laws that regulate instruction on race.
Dive Insight:
Woods initially declined to recommend the AP course for state board of education approval, according to a July 24 letter from Kemp. Woods said in a statement that same day that he "had concerns about the state endorsing the totality of the course." But he said districts can offer the course as long as they use a specific course code that would allow them to alter the course if desired.
Woods' office denied that he reversed his plans, saying in an email on Friday to K-12 Dive that "it was always Superintendent Woods’ intent that districts could use the existing state course code to teach all or part of the AP African American Studies content, should they choose."
The pre-existing code applies to the state's African American Studies program and allows "local districts the option to teach part or all of the AP course and receive state funding," per Woods' response to Kemp.
However, state Rep. Jasmine Clark, who has been a vocal critic of Woods' decision, said in a social media post using the pre-existing course code may hinder students' ability to factor the course into their GPA as an AP course, meaning they wouldn't get the GPA boost provided by other AP courses.
Clark also said in a social media post on Friday that the code would allow districts "to water down the content of the course, which is not done for a single other AP course" in Georgia. This creates an "illusion" to the public that Woods and the state board are offering the course, she said.
In 2024, some 4,413 Georgia students enrolled using the course code.
The College Board piloted the AP African American studies in nearly 700 high schools in 2023-24. The course was made available to all schools for fall 2024.
Woods' concern came on the heels of Florida's months-long kerfuffle with the College Board over the merits of the course. In January 2023, Florida's education and policy leaders rejected the course, claiming it "lacks educational value."
Ultimately, the College Board changed some of the course content — a move that the Florida Department of Education took credit for, despite College Board refuting claims that the state's pressure led to the changes.
At the same time, however, the College Board acknowledged that it had "learned from our mistakes in the recent rollout of AP African American Studies and know that we must be clear from the outset where we stand.”
The back-and-forth was followed by additional requests from Florida for the College Board to audit — and alter, where needed — all of its AP courses to ensure they comply with state laws restricting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The controversy sparked a handful of additional conservative-led states to review the course.
Disagreement over the course recently reached historically Democratic-leaning Maryland, when a district decided to exclude the course from its curriculum after a pilot in the 2023-24 school year. However, following public backlash and involvement from advocacy groups, the Harford County School Board decided to move forward with the course.
Public involvement and pressure on education leaders has become commonplace in recent years as they navigate curriculum regulations advocates say are meant to curb discussions of race in the classroom. Proponents of such laws say they limit "divisive concepts" in the classroom that may contribute to racial divides.
In the recent Georgia string of events, for example, Clark posted on social media that Woods' reversal "shows the power of the voices of the people."
"While this reversal, on principle, is great, and honors the fact that this course should have never been on the chopping block in the first place, this is a 'workaround' solution since schools must use a code from an existing non-AP course," Clark wrote.
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