Newly unearthed documents reveal that during his tenure as the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe’s Education Department was pushing public schools to teach critical race theory (CRT).
According to a 2015 training program issued by the Virginia Department of Education, state public schools were encouraged to “embrace critical race theory” and “engage in race-conscious teaching and learning” as part of the program’s “Culturally-Responsive Teaching and Learning Principles.” The slideshow also urged schools to adopt a “critical race theory (CRT) lens” when surveying “culturally-responsive alternatives” to school suspension.
Moreover, Virginia’s Education Department has continued to promote critical race theory under the state’s current Democrat governor, Ralph Northam. In 2019, State Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane sent out a memo to school division superintendents that describes CRT as an “important analytic tool in the field of education” that offers “critical perspectives on race” and “the dynamics of power and privilege in schooling.”
“Our commitment to advancing equity outcomes and fostering inclusive and welcoming environments for Virginia’s students is resolute,” wrote Lane. “As education leaders — we have the opportunity and an obligation — to facilitate meaningful dialogue on racism and bigotry with our students, staff, and school communities.” The memo was issued in response to the blackface scandals that had rocked the state’s Democrat leadership a few weeks prior.
SCOOP: @TerryMcAuliffe claims that critical race theory has “never been taught in Virginia,” but I’ve obtained a memo from the State Superintendent directly promoting CRT, calling it “an important analytic tool” for addressing “power and privilege” in all Virginia schools. pic.twitter.com/Y9d2blyiXJ
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 13, 2021
Furthermore, the Virginia Department of Education is currently using critical race theory to define terms such as “white supremacy” as part of its statewide “Anti-racism in Education” initiative.
“Drawing from critical race theory, the term ‘white supremacy’ also refers to a political or socio-economic system where white people enjoy structural advantage and rights that other racial and ethnic groups do not, both at a collective and an individual level,” it reads. Also cited in the curriculum is notable critical race theory proponent Ibram X. Kendi, whose book “How To Be An Antiracist” is used to define terms such as “anti-racist.”
Localities throughout the state have seemingly already begun to offer critical race theory training to educators, with Fairfax County supplying teachers with a PowerPoint that instructs on the “application” of “critical race theory.” In Loudoun County, education officials took it a step further by purportedly shelling out $625 an hour for CRT consultation work.
“While [Loudoun County Public Schools] has not adopted CRT, some of the principles related to race as a social construct and the sharing of stories of racism, racialized oppression, etc. that we are encouraging through the Action Plan to Combat Systemic Racism, in some of our professional learning modules, and our use of instructional resources on the Social Justice standards, do align with the ideology of CRT,” wrote former LCPS Superintendent Eric Williams.
This has trickled down to the districts. Fairfax Co. trained teachers in the “application” of “critical race theory.” Loudoun Co. paid $625/hr for “critical race theory” consulting and the former superintendent admitted that the curriculum “align[s] with the ideology of CRT.” pic.twitter.com/vWWSrURvBA
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 13, 2021
The bombshell revelations run counter to previous claims by McAuliffe, who has repeatedly argued that critical race theory is not taught in Virginia classrooms and has dismissed the Marxist ideology as a “right-wing conspiracy theory.”
“It’s not taught in Virginia, it’s never been taught in Virginia,” the Democrat gubernatorial candidate claimed in a recent interview. “And as I’ve said this a lot: It’s a dog-whistle. It’s racial, it’s division, and it’s used by Glenn Youngkin and others — this is the same thing with Trump and the border wall — to divide people.”
“I’m not even spending my time because the school board and everyone else has come out and said it’s not taught. It’s racist. It’s a dog-whistle,” he added when pressed to define it.
McAuliffe’s GOP opponent Glenn Youngkin was quick to respond to the matter, with a campaign spokesman telling The Federalist that McAuliffe “doesn’t have the best interests of parents and students in mind.”
“McAuliffe wants to keep parents out of the classroom so his special interest allies can force their radical political agenda into classrooms and tell children what to think instead of teaching them how to think,” said Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez. “As governor, Glenn Youngkin will empower parents, ban critical race theory, restore excellence in our public schools, and raise teacher pay.”
