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ATLANTA (AP) — 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.

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 AP material by labeling it as a lower-level introductory course. That came a day after Woods said districts would have to teach the course using only local tax money.

“Withholding state approval for this AP 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 AP courses,” Gwinnett County Superintendent Calvin Watts said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Woods didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday evening.

The Atlanta, DeKalb County and Cobb County school districts have all said they are offering the course in some high schools. But Gwinnett County is maybe the most influential district in the state, with others often following the lead of a system that contains more than a tenth of all Georgia public school students.

Woods has faced a rally where Democrats attacked the elected Republican, as well as pointed questions from Gov. Brian Kemp. The Republican Kemp sent a letter asking why and how Woods arrived at his original decision to block state funding. Woods responded to Kemp Thursday, but still hasn’t fully explained his objections.

“My primary concern and consideration was whether it was more appropriate to adopt the AP 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.

All other AP courses are listed in the state catalog, state Department of Education spokesperson Meghan Frick said last week.

If districts teach the course under the introductory code, students won’t get the extra credit that an AP course carries when the Georgia Student Finance Commission calculates grades to determine whether a student is eligible for Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship. It also won’t count as a rigorous course. A student who keeps a B average in high school and takes at least four rigorous courses earns a full tuition scholarship to any Georgia public college or university.

“Gwinnett is working tirelessly to do right by their students,” state Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Lilburn Democrat who is Black and helped spearhead pushback against Woods. “As a parent of GCPS student, all I want for my child is to have the same opportunities as students taking other AP courses, should she choose to want to learn more about the contributions of her ancestors in a rigorous, college-level course.”

The Advanced Placement course drew national scrutiny in 2023 when Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, preparing for his presidential run, said he would ban the course in his state because it pushed a political agenda. In June, South Carolina officials also refused to approve the course. South Carolina said individual districts could still offer it.

In Arkansas, state officials have said the course will count for credit in the coming school year. They denied such credit last year, but six schools taught the pilot course anyway.

Some individual districts around the country have also rejected the course.

In 2022, Georgia lawmakers passed a ban on teaching divisive racial concepts in schools, prohibiting claims that the U.S. is “fundamentally or systematically racist,” and mandating that no student “should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of his or her race.”

So far, 18 states have passed such bans. It is unclear if Georgia’s law influenced Woods’ decision.

The College Board, a nonprofit testing entity, offers Advanced Placement courses across the academic spectrum. The courses are optional and taught at a college level. Students who score well on a final exam can usually earn college credit.

The College Board said 33 Georgia schools piloted the African American Studies course in the 2023-2024 academic year.

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech senior center Weston Franklin (Jesup, Ga./Wayne County H.S.) is one of 75 student-athletes on the official preseason watch list for the 2024 Outland Trophy, the Football Writers Association of America announced on Tuesday. The Outland Trophy honors college football’s top interior lineman.

Franklin has started 25-straight games at center for the Yellow Jackets over the last two seasons and played 884 offensive snaps in 2023. He was the anchor of an offensive front that helped pave the way for Tech to lead the Atlantic Coast Conference and rank among the top 15 teams nationally in both rushing offense (203.8 ypg – 12^th nationally) and fewest sacks allowed (1.15 pg – 15^th) in 2023.

Franklin is one of four starting offensive lineman and eight overall offensive starters that return for Georgia Tech in 2024. Last season, Tech ranked third in the ACC and among the top 35 nationally in total offense (424.6 ypg).

He is one of only 14 centers on the 75-player Outland Trophy watch list.

The winner of the 79^th-annual Outland Trophy will be announced during The Home Depot College Football Awards Show, which airs live on ESPN on Dec. 12, and the award will officially be presented during the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner in Omaha, Neb. on Jan. 22, 2025.

Franklin is the third Yellow Jacket to be named to one of college football’s official award watch lists so far this preseason, joining QB Haynes King and RB Jamal Haynes, who were named to the Maxwell Award (national player of the year) watch list on Monday.

Georgia Tech opens the 2024 season on August 24 versus Florida State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Kickoff is set for noon ET and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

2024 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL TICKETS

Season Tickets

2024 Georgia Tech football season tickets are on sale now and include the best seats for the Yellow Jackets’ six-game home slate, which features Atlantic Coast Conference showdowns against Duke, NC State and Miami (Fla.) at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field and Tech’s highly anticipated matchup with Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Season ticket packages begin at just $225. Click HERE to become a season ticket member today.

Three-Game Mini-Plans

Three-game mini-ticket plans to catch the exciting action of Georgia Tech football in 2024 are on sale now. Mini-plans include a ticket to the Yellow Jackets’ highly anticipated showdown versus Notre Dame on Oct. 19 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Sept. 14 Military Appreciation Day home game versus VMI and the choice of either the Oct. 5 ACC matchup versus Duke or the Nov. 21 primetime ACC battle against NC State. Click HERE to purchase a three-game mini-plan.

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Single-game tickets for Georgia Tech’s five home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field in 2024 – Aug. 31 vs. Georgia State, Sept. 14 vs. VMI, Oct. 5 vs. Duke, Nov. 9 vs. Miami (Fla.) and Nov. 21 vs. NC State – and a limited number of single-game tickets for the Notre Dame game on Oct. 19 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking HERE.

Georgia Tech finished 7-6 overall and 5-3 in ACC play in 2023 (good for a tie for fourth place in the 14-team ACC), and claimed its first bowl win in seven seasons with a 30-17 victory over UCF in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The Yellow Jackets return 17 starters, including all-ACC honorees DL Zeek Biggers, OL Joe Fusile, RB Jamal Haynes, QB Haynes King, WR Eric Singleton, Jr. and OL Jordan Williams.

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.

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