Georgia Bans State Funding for AP Black Studies Courses, Superintendent Reverses Decision a Day Later – Essence

A day after Georgia banned using state funds for Advanced Placement (AP) African-American studies courses, a school principal reversed his decision.

Initially, this caused some school districts to desert plans to introduce classes of their high schools. students for the upcoming school 12 months. Superintendent Richard Woods decided to not recommend approval of the category to the State Board of Education, but didn’t provide any reasoning for his decision.

For Georgia to approve the course in order that schools can use it Financing from the state, which could help cover teacher salaries and classroom materials, “the course had to be approved by State Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods or the state Board of Education, said Meghan Frick, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.”

According to the statement Democratic Georgia State Representative Jasmine Clark said, “The fact that AP African American Studies has been removed from our schools is alarming and unfair to our students who have been looking forward to this course… Erasing Black history from our schools is not and will never be okay!”

But after a huge response“The Georgia Department of Education now says districts have the freedom to teach the course, and the state will pay for it, as long as the districts use a code associated with an existing, state-approved African American studies course.”

“Districts can choose to use this course code and teach some or all of the standards from an AP course, and students can take the associated AP exam,” he said. Fuck.

This is the most recent development in a situation that began in 2023 with complaints FloridaCritics argue that “the inclusion of political themes, together with using certain buzzwords, makes the category liable to indoctrination…[and] exposed her to criticism from Republicans, who’ve subjected the faculties to extraordinary scrutiny in recent times.”

Now other states have joined the crusade, including Arkansas, South Carolina and Georgia. Howard University Africana studies associate professor Joshua Myers compared the phenomenon to “political football.”

Supporters of the course include students enrolled within the pilot AP African American Studies course at Maynard Jackson High School in AtlantaGA According to the College Board, thirty-two other schools in Georgia participated on this pilot program. Some students who enrolled even said they learned more from these classes than they did within the previous ten years of college.

“I learned so much about our culture during this course and I think we should share it with others,” said Da’Merra Handley, who took the course. distant classes within the spring semester of 2023. “Everyone should learn about this.”