FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.—Virginia’s Department of Education (VDOE) proposed significant changes to K-12 history and social studies standards last Friday.
The new guidelines (pdf) are about teaching “all of our history:” “America is exceptional but not perfect.”
“Students will know our nation’s exceptional strengths, including individual innovation, moral character, ingenuity and adventure, while learning from terrible periods and actions in direct conflict with these ideals,” the document wrote.
The revised standards also require the provision of “open access” to all Virginia public schools’ instructional materials to parents and teachers to “facilitate open and balanced discussions on difficult topics, including discrimination and racism, and present learning opportunities without personal or political bias.”…