Virginia School Defies Governor Youngkin, Asks Kids To Play 'Privilege Bingo'

Virginia School Defies Governor Youngkin, Asks Kids To Play 'Privilege Bingo'


Virginia has a new governor and he is not playing by the old governor’s rules, but the memo has apparently not gotten to everyone.

The new Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has banned Critical Race Theory and other “inherently divisive concepts” but that does not work for Oakton High School, which is part of Fairfax County Public Schools, The Daily Wire reported.

The school asked students to play a game of “privilege bingo” in which they got points for being white, being male, having married parents or being a “military kid.”

It is worth saying the military kids have the “privilege” of missing their parents and knowing they could be called to duty, or killed at any time and have to move often thus not being able to keep friends.

A note explaining the curriculum was sent by Assistant Superintendent Douglas A. Tyson.

“The screen shot you reference comes from an approved FCPS English Curriculum lesson that is centered around students selecting a “choice” test and examining in detail the author’s perspective on a wide-range [sic] of issues,” the note said.

“Students are asked, in the lesson, to read critically and think critically about the author’s perspective on several fronts including the author’s privilege that may or may not be present in the work. Students are then asked independently and self reflectively to juxtapose their thoughts regarding any perceived privilege they think they may have and how they would potentially rewrite portions of the text. Students are not asked or required to report out their self-reflections. This lesson is an adept vehicle to push student thinking to challenge the author’s thoughts/conclusions and to sharpen their ability to critically read selected texts,” it said.

Fairfax County, based near the Pentagon, has a large number of military families. It collects supplemental funding for educating military families, but many refused to turn in the form giving them the extra cash this year because of perceived derision of those serving their country or because of frustration with other failures of the school system, parents said.

In September, school board member Abrar Omeish, whose father was on the board of the mosque attended by 9/11 hijackers and hired as imam a top Al-Qaeda operative, forcefully opposed a resolution honoring the victims of the attacks on their 20th anniversary. A photo also showed her without her hand over her heart during the pledge of allegiance.

But on his first day as governor, Glenn Youngkin banned curriculum that has “inherently divisive concepts” and it would be tough to argue that “privilege bingo” is not inherently divisive.

“By virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor, I hereby issue this Executive Order to ensure excellence in K-12 public education in the Commonwealth by taking the first step on Day One to end the use of inherently divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, and to raise academic standards,” Gov. Youngkin said in the executive order.

“Inherently divisive concepts, like Critical Race Theory and its progeny, instruct students to only view life through the lens of race and presumes that some students are consciously or unconsciously racist, sexist, or oppressive, and that other students are victims. This denies our students the opportunity to gain important facts, core knowledge, formulate their own opinions, and to think for themselves. Our children deserve far better from their education than to be told what to think,” he said.


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