Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: The 2020 Virginia General Assembly passed House Bill 753 directing the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to develop guidance standards for social emotional learning (SEL) for all public students in grades Kindergarten through 12 in the Commonwealth. The Virginia Social Emotional Learning Standards were developed in collaboration with an SEL Advisory Committee, composed of educators, community leaders, agency personnel, and parents. The Virginia SEL Standards are aligned with the Profile of a Virginia Graduate and centered in equity. This intentional focus allows the Standards to explicitly teach the skills needed to be “life ready” and to create more equitable learning environments.
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5/25/21  5:48 pm
Commenter: Yael Levin

No to SEL in this format!
 

The concept of SEL is wonderful. The issue is with this proposed plan. This proposed plan focuses on equity of outcomes, rather than equitable opportunities and resources. Equitable outcomes are not only not achievable due to every student being unique and having different gifts and weaknesses compared to other students, but are also undesirable. Equity of outcomes has been tried in the former Soviet Union, in Cuba and Venezuela. It has failed everywhere and goes against human nature of motivation. In addition, this program assumes the responsibility of parents to raise their children to be productive and caring members of society. We live in the United States of America, where individualism is valued rather than the collective. It is not for the schools to replace the parents' job. This will cause a massive exodus from the public schools, just like your Ed Equity Initiative and the Math Pathways Initiative, and will further widen the gap between the haves and have nots.

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