NORFOLK, Va. – Virginia’s learning standards are required by law to be reviewed every seven years.
The latest draft of proposed education guidelines by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration is drawing some criticism, though. Some Hampton Roads educators are voicing concern over how minorities are represented, saying the guidelines are light on details when it comes to teaching the history of all Americans.
SEE MORE: View the latest draft of proposed guidelines
Jadon Olrogge, an eighth-grade student at Blair Middle School, admits that what's being taught in class could use a bit of a revamp.
“I feel like they could add additional details to make it easier for students to understand,” Olrogge said.
Olrogge's mother, Vickie Berry, said, as a parent to a biracial son, it’s important to learn about all aspects of American history.
“My child having a better view of the overall history - the good, the bad, and the ugly – allows him to form an opinion with all the information,” she said.
Another parent, Lovely Boone, who has a 9-year-old son in elementary school and a high school senior in the Norfolk school district, agrees.
“They don’t really talk about that in school no more, or the history books, and I feel there is a need to talk about it,” Boone said. “We hear stories, the children hear stories from those parents and grandparents, or great-grandparents that have experienced that. We don’t want them to be confused. History is history, and it needs to be taught no matter how old it gets.”
The latest proposals to Virginia Schools curriculum outline what and when certain topics are taught to students. But many teachers believe the 53-page document leaves out details from the painful and difficult parts of the state’s history.
Helen Pryor is the president of the Education Association of Norfolk (EAN) and is also an elementary teacher in the school district. She and other educators believe the draft learning guidelines are politically motivated.
“It's important that our students learn all of history, even the history that's uncomfortable,” Pryor said. “These standards that they're looking to propose would significantly limit a teacher’s autonomy to teach the lesson. Of course, dates; names; when things happen; timelines; they would be taught, but to actually get to the moral compass of the lesson and our mission as teachers to create good citizens, all that is lost.”
Youngkin’s administration and the Department of Education, who drafted the standards, said they actually expand the depth of content required, including learning more about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. Youngkin's office added that the previous administration left out key historical references to hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
Pryor disagrees and calls the revised policy a disservice to students. She said the proposed history standards are worded in a way that stifles growth – academically and socially.
“It should always be an improvement,” Pryor said. “This is not an improvement. This is stifling history and it's not fair to anybody – those who are teaching it, and those that are being taught.”
Members of the EAN said they’re continuing to push for a new draft of proposals.
Youngkin’s office said the draft history standards are in the initial stages of the State Board of Education's review process and will continue to undergo revisions informed by public engagement sessions and Board hearings.
The Board of Education is expected to vote on the new history standards early next year. If approved, they will be the new standards for the 2024-2025 school year.
