Georgia’s Superintendent Richard Woods faced backlash following his decision to defund that state’s AP Black studies course. Following the decision, several prominent Georgia leaders stepped up.
State Sen. Nikki Merritt spoke with ADW in an exclusive interview to share her thoughts on Woods’ decision.
“The educators in Gwinnett County sent me the notice that the African American AP class was being defunded,” Merritt said. “This was a pilot program through the College Board. And once that program ended, it was then up to the school districts to try to petition the state board to extend that course. And the superintendent went through the process and gave no real explanation. He simply said, ‘I’m not approving it.'”
Woods’ decision impacted some school districts. Gwinnett County School District launched a pilot program of the AP Black studies course and announced that it will no longer be offered to students. However, Atlanta Public Schools revealed that it would use its own funds to keep the course available to students.
Merritt and several other Georgia leaders gathered at the Georgia State Capitol to seek answers from Woods on his decision.
“We wanted some answers, what were the particular things about the course outline that you didn’t like,” Merritt said. “We demanded that the course be put back in the lineup with all the other AP courses. I want to make this really simple for everybody. We’re asking for parity here. No other AP course is being treated like this.”
The news of Woods’ decision eventually went viral and became a national story with people from around the country sharing their thoughts.
“People are fired up, people are angry, our students are angry and feel like this is a disservice to them,” Merritt said. “I talked to two young ladies and they feel like it’s just denying them knowledge. It’s not allowing them the opportunity to digest that information to critically think and prepare themselves for the world that we’re headed to.”
Gov. Brian Kemp decided to weigh-in and sent a letter to Woods asking for more clarification as to why the AP course was no longer being offered.
“Though my office does not have any role in these recommendation decisions or approval of curricula, I, along with others within my administration, would like to learn more about what went into the decision not to recommend this course for approval,” Kemp wrote.
On Wednesday night, Woods reversed his decision and revealed that the AP African American course will be funded by the state of Georgia. Woods did not give much explanation for his initial decision, but said, “I had concerns about the state endorsing the totality of the course.”
Merritt believes that Woods’ initial decision to defund the course was inherently wrong, but the overall goal is to provide students with the best access to education.
“This type of move fires people up,” Merritt said. “We can take the political piece out of this. Let’s say this is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is an issue about education. The type of education we want our children to have so that they can compete, so that they can have critical thinking. Education should not be political. It’s just knowledge and knowledge that you get so we can be better and do better. And when you study history and heal wounds and talk about this stuff, we don’t repeat. And you learn and you become a better society. We owe them that.”
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