Alexandria - As children throughout Virginia return to school today, Delegate David Englin (D-45) announced legislation to ensure they are learning from accurate textbooks. The Virginia Textbook Accountability Act will fix the state’s broken textbook review process that has put egregiously inaccurate information into classrooms across the Commonwealth.
“Like other parents throughout Virginia, I was shocked and appalled to discover that some of the textbooks used to teach our children are rife with basic factual errors, and it’s clear that the state’s process for reviewing textbooks is broken,” said Englin. “This legislation will transform that process by holding textbook publishers accountable and ensuring that content experts review each textbook.”
The Washington Post first revealed in October that the state-approved textbook, “Our Virginia: Past and Present,” published by Five Ponds Press, makes the historically inaccurate claim that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War. Since then, further reviews by the Virginia Department of Education have revealed dozens of other inaccuracies.
Currently, the Virginia Board of Education approves textbooks that have been reviewed by a handful of teacher volunteers, and there is no requirement that any of the reviewers have specific expertise in the relevant subject area. Working with Alexandria City Councilman Rob Krupicka, a Board of Education member, Englin crafted legislation that will require the Board of Education to certify textbook publishers. To obtain a certification, a publishers must:
- Employ established content experts to review every textbook available for sale to Virginia school divisions;
- List with each book the content experts that have reviewed it;
- Certify that the content of books for sale to Virginia school divisions in Standards of Learning subjects meet the appropriate mandated content standards; and,
- Agree to be fully responsible for replacing, correcting, or otherwise fixing any mistakes.
Additionally, the legislation empowers the Board of Education — not publishers — to define what constitutes an established content expert.
“By increasing accountability for publishers for school book content while also ensuring teachers have access to a broad range of innovative materials, this proposal moves our book review process into the 21st century,” said Krupicka.
Currently, local school boards are ultimately responsible for textbook purchases. Under this proposal, local school boards will be responsible for ensuring they only purchase textbooks from certified publishers.
“This will make it economically advantageous for textbook publishers to win state certification, and that certification will ensure that each textbook those publishers sell in Virginia has been reviewed by legitimate experts in each subject,” said Englin.
Delegate David Englin is Vice Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and is serving his third term in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he represents the 45th District, which includes parts of the City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, and Arlington County. An Air Force veteran, Englin is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He serves on the Finance Committee, the Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee, and the Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee. For more information, visit http://www.davidenglin.org.
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