Column: A more accurate teaching of history: We can do this, Virginia.

It’s been a year of shouting matches at school board meetings and anger at districts’ pandemic decisions around the country. No wonder parents and educators are skeptical about whether communities can come together to make our education system better.

But here in Virginia, we have an opportunity to show up differently. Our state is poised to bring more rigorous U.S. history content to classrooms, sparking deeper engagement among students of all backgrounds. This is exciting to me not only as a national education nerd, but also as a Virginian educated in our public schools from kindergarten to graduate school. Could Virginia show others how to navigate some very controversial issues?

In October and November, the department of education will hold up to five community meetings around the state to talk about revisions to how social studies, history, and geography are taught in our public schools. These are hotly debated subjects, but Virginia’s education leaders aren’t shying away.

In part, that’s because they have no choice: By law, the department must revise the state’s Standards of Learning every seven years. The standards establish what students should know by the end of their courses, and they come with information on specific facts to learn—from the names of mountain ranges and rivers, to Virginia heroes, to historic conflicts. Documents typically span hundreds of pages, which local officials use to develop lesson plans.

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