AP African American Studies will be added ‘effective immediately,’ state superintendent says

ATLANTA — Georgia State School Superintendent Dr. Richard Woods says the state will now approve state funding for a new Advanced Placement African American Studies course.

Woods had originally cited the state’s “divisive concepts” law as one of the reasons he chose not to approve the course and sought help from the Georgia Attorney General’s Office for clarification on the law.

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“It has been determined that this law shall not restrict local school systems from adopting any AP, IB, or dual enrollment course. Each such course will be exempted from the provisions of the divisive concepts legislation, so long as these courses are implemented ‘in a professionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs,’ Woods wrote in a statement.

Channel 2 Action News reported previously that Woods said he believed allowing the course would force him to break his oath of office and ignore the law.

In the roughly two weeks since Woods’ initial announcement that schools would not be allowed to teach AP African American Studies, pushback was swift from a variety of lawmakers.

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At one point, Gov. Brian Kemp asked for clarity on the decision-making process by Woods, citing Georgia’s status as a state where parents were responsible for deciding what their children’s academic needs were, and how to meet them.

In the letter from the governor to Woods in July, Kemp said “Families should ultimately make the decisions which best meet their child’s academic needs and futures,” in a phrase reminiscent of his previous commentary on parental rights in education, such as when he signed off on the bill banning so-called divisive concepts, 2022′s Parents’ Bill of Rights legislation.

School districts and state officials have continued to review what the next steps for the program might be. Some school districts have pledged to fund the course on their own, while others said without the state funds, they could not.

But Wednesday’s decision appears to put much of those worries to rest.

“As I have said, I will follow the law. In compliance with this opinion, the AP African American Studies course will be added to the state-funded course catalog effective immediately,” Woods said.

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