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  1:55 pm
Commenter: Concerned Parent

SEL is fundamentally flawed
 

As a parent, I cannot stand by and allow SEL, in this form (or most any other), to be taught to my children.  First, if it was so great a concept, why did VDOE do their best to hide it from the public?  That, in itself, is enough to make me suspicious of this and VDOE’s motives.  Some who have commented have tried to suggest that SEL is not a way for schools to force their political beliefs on students.  Sorry, but when you have a curriculum that clearly is designed around group identification, telling students how they should feel about themselves and others based on group determination, who is advantaged and disadvantaged based on what the school (read politicians) have determined is reality, or how students should think, feel, or behave based on what the school has deemed appropriate you’ve lost what little trust I had left in VDOE.  No amount of lipstick will make this pig any prettier.  We all want to make our schools better and to give our children the best education possible.  So, stick to what schools were supposed to be for.  Get back to giving our children a solid “academic” background and leave the teaching of right and wrong, morality, and good Christian values to the parents.   

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