Virginia Gov. Youngkin vetoes measure to let African American history courses count toward graduation

Virginia Gov Glenn Youngkin has vetoed a bill that would have allowed African American history courses to count toward high school graduation requirements Related stories Va Gov Youngkin signs law restricting social media to hour a day for kids under Virginia records center transformation bill vetoed by Gov Youngkin Youngkin cuts million from amended Virginia budget ahead of economic uncertainty The measure which was introduced in the House by Loudoun County Del David Reid would have allowed students and parents to choose African American History or AP African American Studies as substitutes for either World History I or World Geography that satisfy the history and social studies credit that students must complete Reid stated he introduced the law after discussions with Loudoun County Citizens Schools and the NAACP It would have applied to school districts where those classes are already being taught and was not forcing any school district to take this on as a new requirement because we were really very sensitive about not levying an unfunded mandate he stated WTOP This would have been about allowing students and parents to have a choice about what they were going to be able to learn for their high school graduation requirements Reid noted Youngkin initially amended the bill with a reenactment clause meaning it would have had to be passed again next year After the proposal cleared both chambers Youngkin opted to veto it In a message Youngkin spokesman Peter Finocchio noted the proposal would replace a critical subject in World History of which Youngkin believes every scholar deserves foundational knowledge There is nothing limiting any aspirant from taking African American history At present African American history classes can be taken as electives Finocchio explained four electives are required for a standard diploma which allows students to choose any class that they are interested in which can include African American history or Advanced Placement African American Studies The bill Reid noted was crafted after consulting with educational professionals He noted Youngkin s veto contradicts his first executive order which called for teaching students the entirety of history We put a whole lot of effort into this Reid mentioned We followed the educational type of protocols and those folks that are saying that they don t want to give the parents and the students the choice to be able to select which history in these two choices then I think sometimes that s a little bit hypocritical coming from those particular individuals Reid explained he s planning to try and get the same measure passed again next year It s been almost a year that we have been working on this but we ve laid the foundation for being able to try this again next year Reid mentioned There s nothing that I feel that really requirements to change in the measure because again it was permissive in nature that allowed parents and students to make a choice and it allowed them to be able to recognize that Virginia history is African American history Source