After more than a week of upheaval across Georgia related to a decision to cancel the state’s funding and approval for a test-piloted African American Studies Course from the College Board, the state superintendent has shared his reasoning for the program’s rejection.
Channel 2 Action News reported Dr. Richard Woods first made his rejection of the AP Studies course public on July 23.
Eight days later, and after multiple school districts, lawmakers and members of Georgia’s education community pushed for answers and reinstatement, Woods put out a statement going into detail about his thought process, and an apology for his poor communication on the topic.
“To all, I wish to begin by apologizing for how I failed to effectively communicate my rationale for not recommending this specific course for approval to the State Board of Education. As an elected official, I owe all citizens of Georgia an explanation for any decision I make. To all our school districts, I apologize for any confusion that this may have caused as well,” Woods began in his statement.
As the back-and-forth over the course and AP credit continued in Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp had requested information on the decision from Woods, noting that Georgia was a state where it was up to parents to decide what their children’s academic needs were, and how to meet them.
In the letter from the governor to Woods, 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 a bill banning so-called divisive concepts in 2022′s Parents’ Bill of Rights legislation.
While a few days after the superintendent’s decision, it appeared the state had somewhat changed course, confusion persisted across Georgia.
Some districts in the metro Atlanta area announced they would fund the program themselves, while others said the mixed messages meant they would not be funding the program this year.
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