Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods has reversed course and decided that the state will pay for districts to teach a new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies, just a day after he said districts could only teach the course using local funds.
That reversal did little to stem the pushback to Woods’ earlier refusal.
In a rally at the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday, 15 mostly Democratic speakers attacked the elected Republican, saying he was trying to keep students from learning about Georgia’s history. Woods also faced pointed questions from Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who sent a letter asking why and how Woods arrived at his original decision to block state funding.
Woods hasn’t explained his refusal in any depth, saying only in a Wednesday statement that he had, “concerns about the state endorsing the totality of the course.”
