Jillian Balow, Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction
by James C. Sherlock
I have reported for four years on the unrelentingly woke and destructive Board of Education (VDOE) and Superintendent of Public Instruction (SOPI) memorandums, instructions, guidance, model policies and reading lists.
I do not exaggerate, the last SOPI published his personal reading lists to an audience he clearly thought hungry for them.
VDOE engaged in a full-court attempt to define education down and create “training” that was effectively state-enforced reeducation of teachers to enforce dogma. The panelists permitted in the development of instructions and guidelines were exclusively hard left academics, consultants, division superintendents and special interest activists. They, too, shared reading lists.
To report on this dangerous rubbish, I had to read the VDOE website. Regularly. There was never enough hot water in my shower to wash those experiences away. But it is being expunged. Finally.
This work is, of course, characterized as “ending equity initiatives” by most of the press.
The governor has a date certain in July for rebalancing the Board of Education.
Jillian Balow, the new SOPI, is leading an effort to flush the sewer that is the VDOE website. In a letter to the Governor and the Secretary of Education, she reported:
Executive Order One charged the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SOPI) to begin the work of identifying and addressing inherently divisive concepts – including Critical Race Theory and its progeny – in public education. It defined inherently divisive concepts to mean advancing any ideas in violation of Title IV and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, Executive Order One required the SOPI to identify policies, programs, training or curricula that fall within the definition of divisive concepts. I respectfully submit this interim report to you and the Citizens of Virginia.
This interim report rescinds certain policies, programs, and resources that promote discriminatory and divisive concepts as directed by Executive Order One. It also contains a sampling of critical race theory-based materials. However, the concepts have become widespread in the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and in Virginia school divisions and we will need to proactively review policies, practices, and pedagogies around the state to uphold the Civil Rights Act and comport with Executive Order One.
We must continue to ensure that no student in Virginia is taught to judge or treat others differently solely on the basis of their race, skin color, ethnicity, sex or faith. As the work continues, we will engage stakeholders in an ongoing dialogue about how all resources and initiatives from the Virginia Department of Education must permit and encourage school divisions to build a culture of compassion, acceptance, opportunity, and positive change.
The Civil Rights Act codified the principles of equal protection and nondiscrimination found in the 14th Amendment, principles that all Virginians and Americans hold dear and wish to see passed on to the next generation. With this interim report, along with another at the 90-day mark, we want to spur productive dialogue across the commonwealth and create a teachable moment for us all – educators, the Citizens of Virginia, and concerned American parents.
Her letter provides examples. Take a look. She is just getting started. Trust me, cleaning up that dreck is a major undertaking. It remains absolutely everywhere on that site.
Perhaps next she can alter the outsized roles within VDOE of radical left members of the education academic and consulting communities. They ran the place for four years.
Unlike that cult, conservatives want to hear dissenting views.
Consider the infamous Star Chamber of activists (including, of course, their preferred pronouns) that developed the VDOE mandatory “Model Policies” on LBGTQ student accommodations and protections.
That panel purported to be acting in response to a half-page Virginia law that provided bullet list what was to be addressed, but not how. Responding with a 24-page document, Model Policies directed schools to be very careful when and if giving information on six-year-olds to their parents. Read Model Policies and assess for yourself if parents or groomers are better supported.
So keep the progressive left, or at least those that can conduct themselves as adults, as members of advisory panels. Just balance them with active classroom teachers and the parents and grandparents who have fought so hard to reach this moment. Reject professional activists posing as consultants.
And perhaps we can get a new, three-page, Model Policies that protects student and parents. And leaves the groomers to fend for themselves without the shield of policy.
Thank you, Governor Youngkin and Ms. Balow.
