Fairfax County schools announcing steps to remove racism, bias from curriculum

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — Just this week, Fairfax County schools' Superintendent Scott Brabrand urged parents to take a survey and help shape the district's curriculum.

The issue is that many consider school systems, including what's taught in the classroom, to be non-inclusive.

"We're talking about all subjects," said Jean-Claude Brizard, the President and CEO of Digital Promise. The nonprofit works to close gaps in things like graduation rates, and college readiness based on a student's race, class, or where they live.

"When you look at, for example, who is highlighted in terms of the inventors, in engineering, in chemistry, in physics, often the voices for example of African-Americans were not included," said Brizard. "The kinds of great inventions, you find that maybe our Asian community or Asian scientists have done may not be included."

On Thursday, FCPS sent a letter to parents asking them to take part in a survey that will help guide a policy change.

"I think, sure, there's going to be pushback," said Jenni Torres, Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Instruction at Waterford.org.

"Those of us who are older, we went through school, and some of us may think it was just fine the way it is. I think others of us know that there were many voices missing."

Fairfax is far from alone in this effort.

DC Public Schools has been using its Equity Framework program to identify issues of inequality for three years.

Loudoun County is also working through an anti-racism program.

It has created some controversy though, with some critics disparaging it as critical race theory.

Currently, Montgomery County is in the middle of a system-wide anti-racism audit that's looking into practices, school policies, as well as what's being taught.

"Students need to be able to see themselves in the stories they're reading, in the literature, and they need to be able to see themselves represented in an asset based way, not in a way that is always detrimental," said Torres.

Torres has the unique perspective of having been involved in this work for years, and also being the mother of a Latino student in Montgomery County, at the same time that it’s school system examines issues of equity.

"I don't think (my son) has had the opportunity to have a Latino teacher that has had his same level of experience, or even looks like him," said Torres. "I would really have imagined or hoped that he could have had that by this time in his educational experience."

Brizard agrees that it's not just the course material that needs to be examined.

"It's in the boardroom," said Brizard. "It's in the office of the superintendent. It's in what the central office is doing, how they hired teachers and principals. All this stuff becomes part of the conversation."