Virginia Plans To Eliminate Math Acceleration In The Name Of ‘Equity’

Parents and school board officials in Virginia are still digesting a plan to eliminate all math acceleration curriculum before 11th grade under a new plan that was floated Tuesday night by the Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative (VMPI). Loudoun County School Board member Ian Serotkin posted the plan that VMPI plans to implement over the next few years, and it shows that students won’t have accelerated math options until they enter 11th and 12 grades.

What’s this all about? Fox News went to the Virginia Department of Education website and found an infographic that states VMPI has goals that include “[i]mprove equity in mathematics learning opportunities,” “[e]mpower students to be active participants in a quantitative world,” and “[i]dentify K-12 mathematics pathways that support future success.”

Notice the keywords: equity, empower.

One Loudoun County, Virginia parent told Fox News that the concern with Virginia’s new math plan is that it would “lower standards for all students in the name of equity.” If you think this is all some sort of conspiracy theory and these parents are just losing their minds, consider that Virginia is also exploring a plan to eliminate diplomas in the name of equity, according to Yahoo! News.

Just this week, Virginia announced it’ll be exploring “how and where graduation requirements can operate as a lever for equity.”

“So, first, we’re going to start with…the possibility of consolidating the standard and advanced studies diploma,” Leslie Sale, director of the Virginia Education Department’s office of policy, said during a Tuesday meeting.

“Hopefully, this discussion will allow us to think through how we maintain a rigorous academic foundation in a way that’s really equitably serving the needs and aspirations of all of Virginia learners.”

This whole equity thing has been building. A group called the African American Superintendent’s Advisory Council came up with recommendations for Virginia on the subject of equity, and it appears parents and school board members are now seeing these suggestions make their way into the school system.

“These recommendations include developing measurable plans to close the persistence of achievement gaps, close opportunity gaps that disproportionately impact Black students and other students of color, diversify Virginia’s educator force, and support professional development for administrators and educators focused on culturally inclusive and responsive competencies and equity-centered practices that disrupt intentional and unintentional racism in education,” Newport News Public Schools chief of staff Rashard Wright said in a March press release.

Hold onto your seats.

Among the recommendations sent to Virginia VDOE were:

• Establishment a single indicator or composite score related to school climate that includes
indicators related to antiracism and culturally responsive and inclusive learning
environments;
• Incorporation of racism, racial equity and social justice in the Standards of Learning
• Requirement for the equitable distribution of experienced teachers among high- and low- poverty schools; and
• Reconfiguration of school division boundaries and school attendance zones to promote
integration and advance equitable opportunities for all students.

What’s this all mean to parents in Virginia? Don’t be shocked when the lunatics start ramming these equity recommendations down your throat and into the school system. Leslie Sale and her crew started with diplomas and math. You can be sure more is coming. Bank on it.