STAFFORD, Va. (AP) - Leaders in a Virginia county have voted to withhold funding for school programs that would teach critical race theory or ask that students identify their chosen pronouns.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to denounce the teaching of The 1619 Project and critical race theory in county schools and condemned requiring students to choose their own pronouns, news outlets reported. They said they could withhold any money the school system spends on either.
Republican Supervisor Gary Snellings, the proposal’s author, and other board members at the meeting said by controlling the school board’s funding, they wanted to ensure programs and policies align with community desires.
Several weeks ago the acting schools superintendent said the system isn’t teaching critical race theory and teachers aren't told to ask students their preferred pronouns.
Critical race theory centers on the belief that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and maintains the dominance of whites in society.
The 1619 Project, which was first published in The New York Times Magazine in 2019, “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States’ national narrative.”
