Georgia’s largest school district announced Tuesday that it won’t teach a new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies, 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.
