The Fairfax County School Board is slated at its Thursday meeting to vote on a “Truthful Education” resolution that promises to support and protect teachers who espouse critical race theory.
The “Truthful Education in FCPS: Support for Educators and School-Based Administrators Resolution” was initially put forth at the board’s Oct. 6 meeting without prior notice before a final vote was scheduled for the board’s Oct. 20 meeting.
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FAIRFAX SCHOOLS IMPLEMENTED ‘EQUITY GRADING’ TO FIGHT ‘BIAS’
The resolution says the FCPS board “commits to protect and support educators and school-based administrators in FCPS as they develop and implement antiracist, equity- and justice- based classroom resources and pedagogy that meet the high aspirations of each and every one of our students and of the Fairfax County community.”
The terms “antiracist” and “equity” are commonly associated with critical race theory, an academic theory that says U.S. institutions and culture are systemically racist and oppressive to racial minorities. To combat this systemic racism, the theory says, institutions must promote anti-racism and equity.
The presence of ideas linked to critical race theory in public schools has been a major point of contention between school administrators across the country and parent activists, many of whom have expressed concern that the concepts being presented in classrooms are promoting racial division. Several Republican-controlled states have passed laws prohibiting public schools from incorporating critical race theory into classroom instruction.
The school board’s resolution says FCPS administrators and teachers are afraid that “implementing these necessary curricular improvements could lead to personal or professional harm.”
“It is the role of the Board and the Superintendent to support educators in carrying out the clear and important educational expectations of the VDOE and Fairfax County community that our students are critical thinkers and effective collaborators who acknowledge and understand diverse perspectives and cultures, essential goals of the FCPS Portrait of a Graduate,” the resolution says.
Earlier this month, the Washington Examiner reported that several schools in the northern Virginia school district had implemented so-called “equity grading” in an effort to eliminate racial disparities in student grade achievement.
The “Truthful Education” resolution was reportedly drafted by the Fairfax progressive advocacy group Free and Antiracist Minds, according to Mark Spooner, a retired lawyer based in Fairfax County, who commented on the resolution in an op-ed for the Fairfax Times.
“The words [equity and social justice] may sound innocent, but they are not,” Spooner wrote. “They have been coined to promote an ideology that’s antithetical to basic American values such as individual responsibility, meritocracy, free enterprise, and race neutrality. Using these words in a School Board resolution that identifies the central goals of the curriculum would be a very radical step.”
On its website, Free and Antiracist Minds says that it works to “dismantle White supremacist dynamics (i.e. power, capitalism, colonization, and exploitation) in our schools, workplaces, and government” and that it will “take necessary steps to dismantle current racist practices and policies and ultimately abolish systems of oppression.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Nicki Neily, the president of the parent activist group Parents Defending Education, slammed the school district’s continued focus on social justice initiatives rather than academic achievement.
“Virginia test scores have plummeted the last several years, yet rather than solve the problem, Fairfax is doubling down on activism,” Neily said. “Schools are pursuing equity at the expense of excellence, and all it does is harm children.”
