Virginia

Local Education

Virginia Education Department rescinds diversity, equity programs in response to Youngkin’s order

By Hannah Natanson and Karina Elwood
Yesterday at 6:29 p.m. EST

The Virginia Department of Education has rescinded a wide range of policies, memos and programs established to further diversity, equity and inclusion in schools in obedience to an executive order from Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). ... Jillian Balow, the Virginia superintendent of public instruction, announced the end of the initiatives in a letter sent to Youngkin and Education Secretary Aimee Guidera on Friday. Balow wrote that she was acting due to Youngkin’s Executive Order One, issued on his first day in office last month and which forbids the teaching of “inherently divisive concepts” including “critical race theory and its progeny.”

The programs Balow has rescinded or is working to rescind were established under Youngkin’s Democratic predecessor, Ralph Northam. They include a framework called “EdEquityVA” that aimed to eliminate racial and socioeconomic disparities in academic and disciplinary outcomes for students. They also include a website devoted to “culturally responsive” teaching, and a memo that ex-state superintendent James Lane published in 2019 urging teachers to “facilitate meaningful dialogue on racism and bigotry.” Nixed as well is a web seminar series called “Teaching 9/11.”

Balow wrote in the letter that her cancellations of the programs are only the first step in a wholesale overhaul of how the state education department operates. ... “Discriminatory and divisive concepts … have become widespread in the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and in Virginia school divisions,” she wrote. “We will need to proactively review policies, practices and pedagogies around the state.”

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Balow’s actions Friday come as no surprise: She is directly following Youngkin’s requests as laid out in his Executive Order One. In that document, he specifically asked her to end or curtail several of the programs she rescinded, including the EdEquityVA program and the Virginia Math Pathways Initiative. The latter program proposed rejiggering eighth-, ninth- and 10th-grade math courses and increasing students’ exposure to data analytics, but it drew heavy criticism from some who alleged it would eliminate advanced high school math classes.

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By Hannah Natanson
Hannah Natanson is a reporter covering education and K-12 schools in Virginia. Twitter https://twitter.com/hannah_natanson

By Karina Elwood
Karina Elwood is an intern covering local politics and government on the Metro desk. Twitter https://twitter.com/karina_elwood