Virginia Democrats push mandatory DEI curriculum

(The Center Square) – Democrats in the Virginia Legislature proposed a bill requiring public schools to include diversity, equity and inclusion topics in their curriculum.

House Bill 614, introduced this month by Delegate Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, would require all public elementary and secondary schools within Virginia to adjust their history and social science classes to include more “inclusive history” material.

The bill’s summary includes racial minorities, immigrants, women, individuals with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, or “any other group of individuals that the Board of Education deems appropriate, in order to affirm such communities and promote a more holistic understanding of history.”

The bill states these changes are necessary “to ensure comprehensive, accurate and inclusive education.” It also requires schools to provide teachers with instructional materials to observe history-related months, including Black History Month, Women’s History Month and LGBTQ+ History Month.

The goal of the bill is to allow teachers to be equipped with “culturally responsive strategies for teaching inclusive history and for addressing complex or difficult historical topics,” the bill states.

The Center Square reached out to the Virginia Department of Education for comment and was told that it is “not commenting on proposed legislation outside of committee hearings at this time.”

March 1, 2027, is the state’s scheduled review of its Standard of Learning, where the new DEI material and curriculum guidelines must be implemented “to explicitly include the political, economic, social and cultural contributions of the communities described,” the bill states.

By the 2028-2029 school year, the Standards of Learning assessments must include practice questions relating to lessons that align with “inclusive history standards.”

The Center Square reached out to Rasoul’s office for a comment, but did not receive a response.