By Leonard E. ColvinChief ReporterNew Journal and GuideAfter a disastrous rollout of its update of the state’s K-12 History and Social Science Standards of Learning (SOL) standard last August, the State Board of Education is revising it.Confronted with strong criticism of proposed standards, the board recently voted unanimously to begin revising its initial work and resubmit it in January.The revision which is done every seven years was crafted by a board now controlled by appointees of Conservative Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.The new panel’s rejection and revision of standards devised by the board of former Democrat Governor Ralph Northam were heightened by the criticism.Democratic party lawmakers, historians, the Virginia Education Association (VEA) leader, and civil rights advocates said the Governor’s Board effort omitted, misrepresented, or downplayed references to African-Americans and Native Americans.For instance, Native Americans are labeled the “first immigrants” although they inhabited the North American continent before English or European explorers.There was criticism of the absence of historic figures such as Jackie Robinson, Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall, Pocahontas, and others from elementary-level education.There was scant mention of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of its key leaders, and Juneteenth and its significance.A 400-plus page draft document of History and Social Science Standards of Learning (SOL) drafted by the Northam administration was reduced by the Youngkin-led panel to a scant 52 pages.Also, there were complaints that the 300-page short proposal adopted by the current board excluded a curriculum framework, a more detailed document that the Board of Education approves a year before its implementation.Further, unlike the Northam administration, there was little input from historians, organizations like the state African-American History Commission, or civil rights activists.The State Superintendent did acknowledge consulting the Thomas Fordham Institute, a conservative education policy think tank at Michigan’s Hillsdale College. It played an instrumental role in the drafting of the “1776 Report” on U.S. history commissioned by then-President Donald Trump. That report sought to counter the New York Times’ “1619 Project,” a report on the major role of slavery in the founding of the United States.The criticism was not a surprise. Youngkin, on his first day in office, joined six other Republican governors in issuing executive orders designed to curtail the teaching of what he identified as Critical Race Theory (CRT) or other “Divisive Concepts” in classrooms.However, CRT is a postgraduate history course and is not taught in any Virginia K-12 classrooms. Further, Youngkin nor his staff has yet to explain what “divisive concepts” he was referring to in his order.Progressive advocates say the use of the term CRT and its attack is an effort to deter teaching how America used its legal and economic institutions to oppress Blacks.Conservatives say such informa
