Georgia Denies State Funding for Teaching AP Black Studies Classes

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia is refusing to provide state funding for the new Advanced Placement course in African-American studies, prompting some school districts to cancel plans to offer the course to high school students.

Advocates complain that the decision by Georgia’s elected school superintendent will suppress teaching about black history, just as officials have done in Florida, Arkansas and some 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 been eagerly awaiting this course,” state Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democrat from Lilburn, said in a statement. “Erasing Black history from our schools is not and will never be okay!”

The State Board of Education, appointed by the governor, must approve a class to qualify for state funding, which helps pay for a teacher’s salary and classroom supplies. Superintendent Richard Woods decided he would not recommend approving the class to the board, but did not say why.

“Superintendent Woods has chosen not to recommend this course for state approval at this time,” Meghan Frick, a spokesperson 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 credits toward a high school diploma if they do so. Frick also noted that Georgia is funding a state-designed African American studies course that was approved in 2020. That course is not eligible for AP credit.

The AP course gained national attention in 2023 when Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, preparing for his presidential campaign, said he would ban the course in his state because it promoted a political agenda.

In Arkansas, state officials have said the course will count for college credit in the upcoming school year. Last year, they denied such credits, saying it wasn’t clear whether the AP course would comply with a state law that limits how race can be taught. Six schools offered the pilot course anyway.

Some school districts across the country have also refused to offer the course.

As conservative criticism mounted, the College Board removed several topics from the exam, including Black Lives Matter, reparations for slavery and gay rights. The board was also criticized for bowing to political pressure.

A later series of changes includes more material on topics such as the Tulsa 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 begins in the school year that is about to begin.

The College Board, a nonprofit testing organization, offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including math, science, social studies, foreign language and fine arts. The courses are optional and taught at the college level. Students who score well on a final exam can usually earn college credit.

There has been little public discussion in Georgia about the African-American studies course. But in 2022, Georgia lawmakers passed a ban on teaching divisive racial concepts in schools, banning claims that the U.S. is “fundamentally or systematically racist” or that 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 his or her race,” the measure, based on a now-rescinded executive order from President Donald Trump that was fiercely denounced by Democrats and liberal groups, said.

Sara Sympson, a spokesperson for the College Board, said 33 schools in Georgia are piloting the course in 2023-24. Some of those schools expected to offer the final version of the course this year.

Georgia’s refusal to approve the course came to light Monday when the state’s largest school district, Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta, issued a memo saying it was canceling plans to offer the course at six high schools. Schedules for 240 students will have to be changed before classes begin Aug. 5.

“We are committed to providing a comprehensive and inclusive education for every 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 this innovative course at the college level or receive college credit for it.”

In DeKalb County, another Atlanta suburb, rising senior Daniel Herrera was among the students who pushed for the AP class to be offered at Dunwoody High School, blaming the cancellation on a “conservative-dominated” Georgia Department of Education.

“I think it’s essential that students remember everyone’s history in the same way,” Herrera said.

Angela Williams Pitkonen, who was to teach the course at Dunwoody, said 100 students had signed up, the same number as normally sign up for AP World History.

“There’s no reason not to offer this class,” Pitkonen said. “This class is not meant to make white students feel guilty; it’s not a class meant to make black students feel ashamed.” Instead, she argued, it 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 journalist Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed.