Apparently, fifth graders in Virginia will be able to study westward expansion in the early nineteenth century without once confronting the issue of slavery. These revised standards proposed by the Youngkin administration are a joke. #historyteacher doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/2… 
The section on the Civil War tries to rectify this, but students need to understand slavery's importance from the beginning. In 2022 we should be explicit about what led to secession. Do students really need to be able to identify Stonewall Jackson? #historyteacher
Surprisingly, the section on Reconstruction for sixth graders is not a complete disaster, though I wish we could get beyond the language of scalawags and carpetbaggers. Lee is largely irrelevant after the war. #historyteacher
The larger problem, which you can see in the curriculum for high school students, is that history is something that happens to minorities. A few individuals are mentioned, but they are largely cast as victims instead of full contributors to the course of American history.
Students in Virginia need to be able to identify Robert E. Lee as 4th, 6th and 11th graders. Don't get me wrong, he's an important figure, but is he more important than William Mahone? Not even close. #historyteacher washingtonpost.com/made-by-histor…
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