Fairfax County, Virginia, school officials are pushing back on the state’s highly-scrutinized proposed history and social science standards of learning, calling some of them misplaced at certain grade levels, inaccurate and, in some cases, missing critical information.
Superintendent Michelle Reid and Rachna Sizemore-Heizer, chair of the school board, said in a letter sent last week that the latest proposed standards document, released in January, is “replete with historical and developmental errors and concerns and is lacking an inclusive telling of history with the full breadth of perspectives and experiences.”
The addition of over 100 standards, they said, will require “rote memorization for the sake of content coverage” and will challenge teachers to cover more information without additional time to do so.