Virginia: Fairfax County Removes AP Query Linking Race to Politics

The biggest public college board in Virginia, Fairfax County, has eliminated a query from a Grade 12 Superior Placement (AP) Authorities examination that hyperlinks race to politics.

Information of the check query went viral this week when a involved Fairfax resident shared a check query that requested college students to pair racial and social identities with being liberal or conservative. Such identities listed have been: “Southern white male laborer,” “middle-aged urban lesbian,” and “college-educated black male professional.”

“This is an actual question on a 12th grade AP Government test in Fairfax County Public Schools. I don’t care who you are or what side of the aisle you are on, it should infuriate you,” tweeted Rory Cooper.

“Teaching children that political philosophy is a tribal question based on stereotypes of your race/gender/sexuality/age is beyond ignorant, it actually harms the next generation of voters. Another shameful day,” Cooper added for Fairfax County Public Colleges (FCPS).

In keeping with Nationwide Evaluate, the backlash from the “viral screenshot led the school board to remove the question from future tests, noting in an official statement that it failed to ‘meet the division’s high expectations.’”

Republican Virginia lieutenant governor Winsome Sears, who was elected in 2021 alongside Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin by dad and mom involved about radicalism in faculties, denounced the check query in a tweet echoing Rory Cooper’s frustration.

“Why should parents pay for a product when they don’t know its contents? That’s what we’re asking parents to do when it comes to their children’s education. Tests like these create division, low morale, fights in our schools. This is why parents are demanding school choice now!” tweeted Sears.

Moreover, the nonprofit group Faculty Board, which oversees standardized testing and the creation of AP programs in North America, mentioned that the query appeared with out formal approval.

“This is not a question from the AP program. It is antithetical to the content and format of an AP question,” the Faculty Board tweeted in response to Sears.

Fairfax County has been a lightning rod for controversy for the reason that 2021 election when Glenn Youngkin rose to the governorship. This previous December, at Thomas Jefferson Excessive Faculty for Science and Know-how, allegations erupted that the government-funded college had been delaying merit-based awards to push an fairness agenda.

“I am stunned by news reporting alleging that information about National Merit Awards, as determined by student PSAT scores, was withheld from students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology until after important deadlines for college scholarships had passed,” Youngkin mentioned on the time.