VA. Dept. of Education Is For Groupthink
These days, Virginia’s public school system seems more interested in usurping Virginia parents than simply teaching children subjects that parents actually delegate schools to teach, like math and science.
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is once again proposing an education curriculum that oversteps parental authority with its “Virginia Social Emotional Learning Standards” (SEL) – an ill-defined education initiative that emphasizes skills like how to resolve conflicts or respect diverse views, and encourages policies that strive to meet students’ non-academic needs. While parts of it sound good, the reality is SEL is a form of groupthink that forces children to adopt a socialistic worldview in place of individual critical thinking.
The Pioneer Institute, a Massachusetts-based organization recognized for its staunch opposition to Common Core, describes SEL as a “new-age nanny state” that poses a significant threat to student’s health and privacy.
SEL has been pushed for many years through academic work and the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). A national commission headed by the Aspen Institute – an elite, “progressive” global think tank – released a report in 2019 recommending that ALL government schools implement curriculum and standards aimed at developing the “whole child.” These SEL standards are intended to infiltrate every K-12 public school, from the classroom to recess, to the lunchroom and after-school activities, as well as invade a student’s personal feelings about a wide variety of sensitive topics.
In 2020, legislation (HB 753, D-Rasoul) was enacted in Virginia that requires the VDOE to establish a uniform definition of social-emotional learning and guidance standards for all K-12 public students that are made available to each local school division no later than July 1, 2021. Requiring schools to incorporate SEL into its learning will inevitably lead to more bureaucracy, teacher re-education, and ideologically-charged curricula, lesson plans, and data collection.
VDOE worked with CASEL in drafting Virginia’s SEL standards, which are posted on the Regulatory Town Hall website for public comment through May 12, 2021. Below are some examples of the intrusive and subjective standards being proposed:
SoA2: 7-8a, I can recognize and describe unfairness and injustice in many forms including attitudes, speech, behaviors, policies, practices, and laws.
SoA2: 7-8b, I can explain the difference between conscious bias and unconscious (implicit) bias.
SoA1: 11-12a, I can relate to and build connections with other people by showing them empathy, compassion, and understanding by highlighting and honoring differing perspectives, backgrounds, cultures or social groups.
SoA2: 9-10a, I can recognize that all people (including myself) have certain advantages and disadvantages in society based on who they are and where they were born.
DeM2: 11-12a, I can evaluate my post-secondary goals based on my own personal identity, ethical standards, and as a global citizen.
As you can see from these examples alone, these standards will permit schools and teachers to be the ones to determine what laws are just or unjust, what constitutes bias (and which biases are good or bad), or even how someone is considered to be advantaged or disadvantaged. They also over-emphasize group identities and even push “global citizenry,” but disregard the value of individuality and Americanism.
It is no coincidence that these so-called “Social Emotional Learning” Standards are coalescing at the exact same time with their close ideological counterparts of “Critical Race Theory” and “Transgender Model Policies.” They are part of a deliberate, coordinated effort by Leftists to completely revolutionize our society into a Godless socialist state, and just like many have tried before them in other places – they are doing it by going after the hearts and minds of our children. We cannot let them succeed.
We encourage you to click the comment button below to state your opposition and outrage over these draft guidance standards. You have until May 12 to submit your comment.
