Fairfax County Public Schools announces new anti-racism curriculum

VIENNA, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Fairfax County Public Schools is announcing an overview of its anti-racism curriculum, which could start as soon as this upcoming school year. 

The district has been working on it for years, saying the anti-racism curriculum will be incorporated into social studies classes.

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This is the outcome of a meeting of the minds with teachers from at least five other school districts across Virginia.

The conversation has been happening for the last couple of years since the violence in Charlottesville.

The district says it will focus on diverse perspectives, invite students to use their voice, and activate their own perspective, and also empower students to examine bias.

Ultimately, FCPS says students will be empowered to pursue their own lines of inquiry and take meaningful action to impact their communities and world.

The timing is coincidental given the climate across the country. Even so, FCPS says they’ve been working on this for years by most accounts the ultimate goal is historical integrity.

The district was very ambiguous only saying that African American history deserves a truer and fuller account but no specifics on implementation.

FOX 5 spoke with the Fairfax Education Association and they say they wish they had been involved. That particular union represents more than 4,000 educators across the county. The union says this is a start for the district but not enough.