A state Department of Education decision not to offer an Advanced Placement (AP) high school course on African American studies in S.C. public schools next year is sparking an outcry from parents, students, teachers and state legislators.
The course, which has been offered for the past two years on a pilot basis, can still be taught by local school districts as an honors class, according to state education officials.
But teachers and parents note that in addition to providing college credit, AP classes are weighted more heavily than honors classes in grade point average calculations, which can be a critical difference when applying to colleges and universities.
Education Department Deputy Superintendent C. Matthew Ferguson explained the decision in a June 4 memo to school districts.
“In the years since this pilot began, there has been significant controversy surrounding the course concerning issues directly addressed by South Carolina’s General Assembly in a budget proviso as well as in pending permanent legislation,” Ferguson said. “The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) maintains its unwavering commitment to teaching the factual historical experience of African Americans to our students.”
The proviso and legislation to which Ferguson is referring forbid the teaching of ideas that conservative critics tend to lump together under the rubric of Critical Race Theory.
Nevertheless, many question the wisdom of discontinuing the course in a state with such a long and difficult history of racism and racial injustice.
“The message this sends is that African American studies is not important, and that’s disappointing,” Charleston Democratic Sen. Deon Tedder told Statehouse Report. “Unfortunately, we have a state government that likes to put politics over people and that’s what this is.”
According to Education Week magazine, South Carolina is one of 17 states that place legal limits on the way racial issues can be taught and discussed in its public school classrooms.
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