NORFOLK, Va. — Governor Glenn Youngkin has ordered Virginia's Education Secretariat to review the College Board's "AP African American Studies," an elective course that has already been banned in Florida.
Virginia joins three other states in reviewing the course to see if it conflicts with any state policies regarding the teaching of race. Arkansas, Mississippi, and North Dakota have also ordered reviews.
A spokesperson for Youngkin released the following statement:
"After numerous reports about draft course content, the governor asked the Education Secretariat to review the College Board’s proposed AP African American Studies course as it pertains to Executive Order 1."
On Youngkin's first day in office, the governor passed Executive Order 1 to ban any "inherently divisive content, including critical race theory."
Under the current version of AP African American Studies, the College Board removed sections containing Critical Race Theory, along with several Black writers and speakers.
The College Board planned to pilot the elective to 60 high schools across the country this year and have it available to all classrooms across the country by the next two years.
The decision to review the already slimmed-down curriculum was met with condemnation by Virginia NAACP President, Robert Barnette.
"AP Course African American History is American History. The good, the bad, and the ugly all need to be taught," said Barnette.
Barnette said his organization would consider the possibility of litigating the issue if a review by the state's Education Secretariat found the AP course as conflicting with Executive Order 1.
However, a spokesperson with the governor said the choice remains with local school divisions on which AP courses they provide to students.
The spokesperson said while the review is underway, they did not provide an answer for when it would be complete.