Georgia’s top attorney said the state’s divisive concepts law does not apply to Advanced Placement and other college-level courses, according to a letter to the 2022 measure’s author that was obtained Tuesday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The letter from Republican Attorney General Chris Carr to state Rep. Will Wade, R-Dawsonville, said it was “clear” the measure was designed not to “prohibit the implementation of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or dual enrollment courses.”
It was sent Friday — two days after state Republican School Superintendent Richard Woods said he declined to recommend AP African American Studies for statewide approval because some topics “did violate the law.”
Woods could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But Woods said in a statement last week that he consulted the attorney general about the law and acknowledged there may be an exemption: “Should (Carr’s) ruling reverse my decision, then I will follow the law.”
Carr’s office said Tuesday it provided legal advice in response to a request from the state education department, but couldn’t elaborate, citing attorney-client privilege.
Though the letter to Wade was not an official opinion, Carr’s dispatch is part of growing pushback from prominent Georgia Republicans over Woods’ position.
Gov. Brian Kemp asked Woods for clarification about his decision a couple of weeks ago, sending a letter with several pointed questions. And state Rep. Matt Reeves, R-Duluth, wrote a letter last week to Woods requesting to continue the course.
“In Georgia, African American studies is not and should not be a divisive concept for an AP class,” Reeves said. “State law is clear this AP class is OK and students should be able to take it.”
In the two-page letter, Carr notes the law states those courses must be taught in a “professionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs” and that any curriculum or training for students or staff “shall not advocate for divisive concepts.”
Wade said he emailed Carr’s office to clarify his understanding of the law.
“We specifically excluded all AP courses, all IB courses and all dual enrollment courses. And I’ve shared that information with the staff of the Department of Education,” Wade said. “And I’m very frustrated for Georgia’s teachers, families and students by the way this has been handled.”
Woods cited coursework involving intersectionality as “the most glaring violation” of the 2022 law, saying it was not offered with comparative or opposing views.
The College Board’s course description defines intersectionality as “a framework for understanding the distinct experiences of Black women through the interactions of their social, economic and political identities with systems of inequality and privilege.”
Gwinnett County Public Schools, the largest district in Georgia, has said it is not providing AP African American Studies due to Woods’ decision and uncertainty over crediting an alternative course.
The district had to rework schedules for 240 students in the weeks before school started. Gwinnett has not said if it would change plans again if the course were approved statewide. In his letter, Reeves urged Woods “to re-enact a course that directly can relate to more than a third of our students.”
“Georgia has huge workforce needs right now,” Reeves wrote, “and facilitating our African American students’ getting high school diplomas, college diplomas, and entering the workforce with a strong education should be a top priority.”
Woods’ invocation of divisive concepts also revived criticism of the law from Democrats, who have held press conferences and taken other actions to press Woods to reverse course.
“This ill-conceived law always threatened to undermine the accurate teaching of Black history and we are seeing its implementation do just that,” said Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark of Lilburn.
Staff writer Ty Tagami contributed to this report.
