Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) in Virginia has come under fire with local parents once again after the public school system revealed it is requiring parents to sign a form similar to a non-disclosure agreement in order to examine the district’s new curriculum influenced by critical race theory.
According to the form reviewed and photographed by the Daily Caller on Monday, “eligible parents” must sign the non-disclosure document to see the district’s new curriculum, which was created after the LCPS paid nearly $8,000 to become a “licensed user” of Second Step Programs, a curriculum created by the Seattle-based left-leaning organization Committee for Children. A limited preview of the curriculum was posted on LCPS’ website.
Parents are not allowed to broadcast, download, photograph or record “in any manner whatsoever” the curriculum and presentations are only allowed to be made in person. Some of the curriculum is available on the district’s website through downloadable files due to Second Step’s copyright policy.
“I understand that the Authorized Presentation of Second Step Materials I am about to view is not a public event, and that copying, broadcast or recording of any kind is not permitted,” the form states, according to the Daily Caller. “I agree to comply with the terms of the above Special License.”
The Daily Caller also found that the curriculum is not subject to standard Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws, according to LCPS’s agreement with Second Step.
“LCPS is partners with Southern Poverty Law Center, Racial Equity Tools, and Learning for Justice (SPLC), all of which have copyrighted material, however, LCPS freely provides access to these materials,” Scott Mineo, leader of Loudoun County’s Parents Against Critical Race Theory, told the Daily Caller. “Why is there such a double standard when parents want to review Second Step SEL material in its entirety?”
One of the primary focuses of Second Step is “social-emotional learning (SEL),” which is rooted in the principles of critical race theory. Committee for Children, the parent organization of Second Step, says SEL is “fundamental to achieving social justice.”
“At Committee for Children, we believe that social-emotional learning (SEL) is fundamental to achieving social justice. We are dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), to becoming an anti-racist organization, and to building a more just and peaceful world where every child can thrive,” the group’s website states. “This means creating a culture of continuous learning and improvement, where our people, programs, and supports reflect and address the needs of educators, the diverse communities we serve, and those we hope to serve.”
LCPS recently released a PowerPoint describing how all elementary schools will be required to implement SEL in classrooms by 2022.
Earlier this year, a Chinese woman who survived Communist Chinese leader Mao Tse-Tung’s regime slammed Loudoun County’s School Board for teaching Critical Race Theory in its schools, asserting the lessons are “very familiar…the only difference is [Communist China] used class instead of race.”
