AP Course Supported By Some Fairfax Board Members As Youngkin Reviews

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — As several Fairfax County high schools plan to pilot an AP African American Studies course, some Fairfax County School Board members asked Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration not to block the course.

Youngkin requested a review of the AP course to find whether it violates his executive order on teaching "inherently divisive concepts" such as critical race theory. A spokesperson for the governor said the review was prompted by "reports about draft course content."

The Washington Post reported Virginia and several other states are reviewing the course after it was blocked in Florida by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Florida's governor, who is considering a 2024 presidential campaign, called the AP course "woke" and "indoctrination."

The College Board revised the AP course following criticism from Desantis, getting rid of topics such as Black Lives Matter and the reparations movement.

Virginia's review will determine if the AP course can go toward credit for graduation, according to the Washington Post.

School Board members Stella Pekarsky, Rachna Sizemore Heizer, Laura Jane Cohen, Karl Frisch and Melanie Meren expressed support for keeping the course at Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia's largest school division. The members noted Virginia has key pieces of African American history, from the entry of the first enslaved Africans to American colonies to the first U.S. Black governor, Douglas Wilder.

"We have a moral obligation to teach our students about both the darkest times from our past and the inspiring progress we have made as a country," the members wrote in a letter to Youngkin and Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera. "The AP African-American Studies course offers this important objective in a way that also provides our students with valuable college credit. We should applaud and support our students’ desire to pursue rigorous curriculum offerings, not deny them these opportunities."

Pekarsky told Patch in an email the course starting next year as part of a pilot program. The course is being piloted at McLean High School, Centreville High School and Westfield High School. Students are currently signing up for the course.

"We are hoping to expand the course following the pilot," Pekarsky wrote.