Earlier this summer, the state superintendent in Georgia withheld approval for the College Board鈥檚 Advanced Placement African American Studies course, claiming it violated state law on instruction about race.
It was an avoidable controversy: Georgia鈥檚 law contains an for AP and other advanced courses. It always has.
As a result, as of Aug. 7, educators in Georgia can offer AP African American Studies this school year in full using its for state funding.
Georgia is one of 17 states that have passed similar rules and laws banning instruction of 鈥渄ivisive concepts鈥� such as the notion that 鈥渁n individual, solely by virtue of his or her race, bears individual responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals of the same race.鈥� These laws created roadblocks for approval of the AP African American Studies course in Florida, Arkansas, and South Carolina since last year.
The back and forth this summer over Georgia鈥檚 approval of the course disrupted schedules for teachers and students planning to participate in it this fall, said Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators union.
Though some educators still have time to adjust and now offer the course, even as the school year has already begun across the state, it鈥檚 an administrative hassle educators didn鈥檛 need to add to their plates, she added.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have to go through all this,鈥� Morgan said.
Georgia educators sought clarity over AP courses this summer
Schools must use course codes listed in a state鈥檚 course catalog to get state funding for instruction and create master schedules, Morgan said. Yet this summer, school leaders in Georgia found no course code listed for the new AP course.
After initially not recommending AP African American Studies for state approval, superintendent Woods suggested educators use the course code for the state鈥檚 Introduction to African American/Black Studies elective course. This would allow educators to get state funding for the AP course.
Yet educators questioned this decision because teaching contracts require teachers to teach the curriculum as designed and approved by the state and by local school board officials. Using the same course code for two distinct curricula created too much procedural ambiguity for some teachers, Morgan said. For instance, would students still get the appropriate credit bump from AP courses in their GPA under the course code for a non-AP course?
On July 31, Woods not to approve the course in full, saying that he reviewed the course鈥檚 content and found 鈥渋t was clear that parts of the coursework did violate the law,鈥� referring to the state鈥檚 divisive concepts law.
鈥淎s with most states with laws like Georgia on this issue that have raised concerns, the most glaring violation is on the topic of intersectionality,鈥� he said. The AP course defines this topic as 鈥渁 framework for understanding Black women鈥檚 distinct experiences through the interactions of their social, economic, and political identities with systems of inequality and privilege.鈥�
In a statement to 澳门跑狗论坛, the College Board said that 鈥渢here are 74 topics covered in AP African American Studies, one of those required topics covers intersectionality.鈥�
Woods said he sought legal clarification on the Georgia law.
The law, as passed in 2022, says it cannot 鈥減rohibit the full and rigorous implementation of curricula, or elements of a curriculum, that are required as part of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or dual-enrollment coursework,鈥� though it also says that the implementation must be done in a 鈥減rofessionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs.鈥�
In an , Woods said the state attorney general鈥檚 office clarified the law doesn鈥檛 restrict local school systems from adopting any AP, IB, or dual-enrollment courses, and that those courses will be exempted from the provisions of the divisive concepts legislation, so long as they meet the stipulations about teaching the course academically and non-politically.
As of Aug. 7, the AP African American Studies course appears in the state catalog of courses with its own course code. All existing AP courses in the catalog also now bear a disclaimer citing the exemption.
Georgia鈥檚 law still carries future implications for educators
The provision in the Georgia law exempting AP and similar courses makes the piece of legislation stand out from similar laws in other states.
According to Morgan of the Georgia teachers鈥� union, the provision came about in part due to conversations between the union and the original HB 1084 bill author, state Representative Will Wade, a Republican.
鈥淲hile we oppose the divisive concepts bill, and worked vigorously to defeat it, we did have conversations with Representative Wade where we expressed our concerns that the divisive concepts bill would lead to situations as we just saw and he agreed to add the language that has ultimately proved our concerns were valid,鈥� she said.
Wade did not respond to EdWeek鈥檚 requests for comment.
College Board officials said that they were aware of language as it was written and passed in Georgia鈥檚 law and that they were not aware of any other similar exemptions.
澳门跑狗论坛 contacted public information officers of the 16 other states with rules or legislation in place banning instruction on 鈥渄ivisive concepts.鈥�
Eleven of the 16 responded by the time of publication. Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas did not provide comments by publication deadline. Most state spokespersons cited language from state statutes that did not explicitly say AP courses were exempt from provisions of the law or statute, as in the case of Georgia.
In some cases, public information officers clarified the parameters of state statutes. For instance, in North Dakota, the state law known as HB 1508 does apply to AP and similar advanced courses. While the law does not ban the discussion of racism in the classroom in general terms, it does 鈥減rohibit teaching the idea that today鈥檚 American society is systematically racist.鈥�
How such parameters interact with the College Board鈥檚 AP African American Studies course remains to be seen. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis banned the pilot version of the course citing the state鈥檚 divisive concepts law. In Arkansas and South Carolina, state officials withheld approval for the course, leaving local schools and districts to cover costs on their own.
In Georgia, the confusion over approving AP African American Studies marked one of the first major statewide cases of the divisive concepts law impacting educators鈥� work directly, Morgan said.
However, she remains concerned about how local interpretations of the law and the state鈥檚 may continue to impact educators.
鈥淭his situation highlights the fact that when an individual is interpreting this law 鈥� a single individual鈥檚 interpretation may not match another individual鈥檚 interpretation, [and] may not match the intent of legislators in passing the law,鈥� Morgan said.
