Keep Truth and Democracy in our Public Education!

Due to overwhelming public pressure, Superintendent Jillian Balow released the names of groups and individuals she worked with to create the Youngkin standards and it's clear that she prioritizes non-Virginians with conservative political agendas. It's no wonder those standards are whitewashed, factually-inaccurate, and age-inappropriate.

On December 2nd, the Superintendent released the list of organizations she worked with including (but not limited to):

William Bennet - former President Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Education
James W. Caesar - former staffer at Heritage Foundation (conservative thinktank), currently working at the University of Virginia
Hillsdale College - conservative Christian college in Michigan known for the 1776 Curriculum, a "patriotic education" product created by the Trump Administration. This curriculum was made in response to the 1619 Project, a Pulitzer Prize-winning project that frames U.S. history by placing slavery and its consequences as foundational
Thomas B. Fordham Institute - conservative education policy think tank
National Association of Scholars - conservative education advocacy organization that also tried to discredit and revoke Nikole Hannah-Jones’s Pulitzer Prize for the 1619 Project
Civics Alliance - group convened by National Association of Scholars and known for the American Birthright standards, a set of history standards that “accommodate the desires of more conservative Americans”
American University - private college in Washington, D.C.
Louisiana Department of Education - led by Louisiana Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumly, who successfully rewrote and implemented history standards similar to the Youngkin standards in a closed-door rewrite, ignored public input opposing his "freedom frameworks," and openly rejected federal protections for LGBTQIA+ students
Sheila Byrd Carmichael - private consultant who authored research for the Fordham Institute and cost taxpayers $1,000/day for 15 days to lead the Youngkin SOL development

The Youngkin SOLs preface and standards should not inform our state’s K-12 history classes because:

They purposefully and explicitly exclude communities to teach a limited perspective. LGBTQIA+ communities were removed and most of the new and existing AAPI history is missing. Despite including a heading called "Expansion, Civil War, and Reconstruction," Youngkin's standards hardly address Reconstruction at all and either emphasize White political leaders or passive voice with no actors. Content that was taught in Virginia for decades was also taken out, such as India and China in 3rd grade, and Indigenous leaders like Chief Powhatan and Pocahontas. These events, places, and people are too significant to be "accidentally" left out.
They are not age-appropriate. K-3 standards focus on concepts and topics that are not developmentally appropriate for the students, such as the Code of Hammurabi, Sic semper tyrannis, and voter registration requirements.
They are written by divisive groups that are clearly pushing a far-right political agenda.

Tell the Virginia Board of Education to move forward with the Collaborative Standards, NOT the January SOLs, for review and public hearing by Thursday, Feburary 2, 2023. If you represent an organization, endorse the Collaborative Standards made by the VSSLC, VASCD, and AHA.

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To the Virginia Board of Education, Superintendent Balow, and Secretary of Education Guidera:

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My name is [your name will go here] and I am a [submission:values:background], living in [submission:values:city], [submission:values:state].

This third History & Social Sciences SOLs draft is unacceptable. The content continues to have omissions and mistakes, and is developmentally-inappropriate for students. We are deeply disappointed that the January SOLs lack meaningful education about many key communities in Virginia such as Asian American, Latino, women, immigrants, and working-class people.

Throughout this process, the Superintendent has acted with neither accountability nor transparency, through closed-door engagement with politically-biased consultants. Consequently, three subject-matter education expert organizations came together and created the Collaborative Standards to faithfully merge the August and November Standards. Unlike the Superintendent’s Standards, the Collaborative Standards publicly outline their development process and the partners who contributed to the document. These standards competently offer a more comprehensive curriculum with appropriate skills development for students and respect the existing work Virginians have already dedicated to the history SOL revisions over the past two years.

I urge the members of the Board of Education to proceed with review and public comment using the Collaborative Standards, instead of the standards made by the Superintendent.

Sincerely,
[your name will go here]

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