Virginia School District Scrubs Test Question That Equated Political Stance To Race, Gender
Reagan Reese on March 13, 2023
Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, scrubbed a test question that appeared on a college-level civics exam which asked students to compare liberals and conservatives to specific genders and races, according to The Associated Press.
A multiple choice question on an Advanced Placement (AP) Government test asked students “which of the following is an accurate comparison of liberals versus conservatives?,” providing options for each political group that detailed race, religion, gender and social status, according to the AP. The school district is removing the question which was designed to test students’ understanding of “political ideology” after it “did not meet the division’s high expectations.”
To describe liberals, students were provided several options including “Young, white males;” “Middle aged, urban lesbian;” “College-educated black male professional” and “White, upper-middle class suburban male,” the AP reported. Options for conservatives included, “East Coast, Ivy League educated scientists;” “Southern male migrant laborer;” “Catholic, midwestern middle-aged male” and “West coast, Hispanic teacher.”
The question was first made public by Rory Cooper, a Fairfax County parent, who posted a picture of the online exam to Twitter on Saturday.
“Teaching children that political philosophy is a tribal question based on stereotypes of your race/gender/sexuality/age is beyond ignorant, it actually harms the next generation of voters,” Cooper wrote. “Another shameful day for [Fairfax County Public Schools].”
This is an actual question on a 12th grade AP Government test in Fairfax County Public Schools. I don’t care who you are or what side of the aisle you are on, it should infuriate you. pic.twitter.com/y0Bi1eI3QS
— Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) March 10, 2023
The College Board, the organization which creates college-level courses for school districts, said it is not the author of the question and called it “antithetical to the content and format of an AP question,” according to the AP.
The College Board has recently come under fire after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rejected the AP African American Studies course because it violated state law prohibiting the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and included chapters on “queer theory.” Following the backlash, the organization released an updated version of the course removing sections on CRT theorists and “black queer studies.”
The College Board and Fairfax County Public Schools did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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