By Kacy Lee, Capital News Service
Lawmakers approved giving Virginia public school boards the option to create instructional material regarding the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with stipulations defining how the deadly moment in U.S. history can be taught.
The instructional material cannot describe the insurrection as a peaceful protest or suggest there was election fraud. The curriculum should refer to Jan. 6 as an “unprecedented, violent attack on United States democratic institutions, infrastructure, and representatives for the purpose of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election,” according to the bill.
Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, an Army veteran, introduced House Bill 333, which cleared the House and then Senate on March 2. The measure passed on party-line votes in both chambers, with Democrats holding the majority in both chambers.
“Every single child in Virginia is entitled to the truth about our democracy, about our democratic process, and about an unprecedented violent attack that sought to undo the results of an election,” Helmer said at a House subcommittee meeting in January.
Over 140 police officers were injured during the insurrection, with one dying from his injuries the following day. Four other responding officers have since died by suicide, according to the Police Executive Research Forum. The research organization was founded in 1976 with the intent to advance professionalism in policing.
Four people who attempted to breach the Capitol also lost their lives within and around the Capitol grounds, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The measure honors the Virginia National Guard members and state police who responded to the breach that day, and who suffered long term injuries in some instances, according to Helmer.
Alexandria Davis, an assistant professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, said from a democracy standpoint there were two perceptions of what happened on Jan. 6.
Helmer’s bill is an example of how teaching history can be deemed political, depending on the partisanship of the school district, according to Davis. Political socialization can happen at a young age, and students can carry specific messages through the rest of their lives.
“If this is happening so early, it can have an impact that maintains this hyperpolarized kind of toxic political environment that we have right now, and keep it going for generations to come,” Davis said.
Davis also said there is a difference between what Democrats and Republicans say when it comes to what transpired on Jan. 6. The moment should be taught in schools, but Davis questioned how conflicting views on historical events will affect how this era of politics will be viewed in the future.
The bill does not clearly state at what age the school districts could offer the instruction.
“It is a little concerning for me that it could be taught to first graders because I don’t know what the real point of teaching first graders about the insurrection would be,” Davis said. “I don’t know if they would even fully understand.”
Michael Huffman, the executive director of the Virginia Assembly of Independent Baptists, opposed the bill on behalf of his organization.
“True education equips children for life, not political agendas,” Huffman said while testifying in the Senate. “Glorifying or mandating biased retellings of the dark days serves only shortsighted partisanship, not our kids’ futures.”
Instruction around Jan. 6 provides no genuine educational value to students and the bill would risk “indoctrinating students into woke progressive ideologies rather than fostering critical thinking,” Huffman said.
The measure will be sent to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office for further consideration.
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Richard T. Robertson School of Communication. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.
