Key Points
ATLANTA 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.al..
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 material by labeling it as a lower-level introductory course..
Withholding state approval for this 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 courses, Gwinnett County Superintendent Calvin Watts said in a statement..
My primary concern and consideration was whether it was more appropriate to adopt the course in its 440-page totality at the state level, or to use the existing African American Studies course code and keep the review, approval, adoption, and delivery of this curriculum closer to local students, educators, parents, and boards," Woods wrote to Kemp..
