When Virginia high school students return to class this fall, they鈥檒l have the option of taking an African American history course 鈥� a new offering in the commonwealth this year.
The state鈥檚 鈥� which has been tasked with making sure African American history is properly represented in the state鈥檚 schools 鈥� would like the course to be made mandatory for seniors to qualify to graduate.
But Virginia Education Secretary Atif Qarni said the state is not ready for that yet.
鈥淲e just don鈥檛 have enough licensed teachers to teach the course,鈥� said Qarni. 鈥淪o we have to build capacity.鈥�
Qarni said he expects it will take a couple of years before teachers at every school across the state are ready to teach the course, and until that then, it needs to remain an elective course in the schools able to offer the class.
鈥淚t’s unfair to make that course a mandatory requirement for graduation for every child if we don鈥檛 have the teacher workforce certified to teach it,鈥� said Qarni.
Another of the commission鈥檚 recommendations is that all teachers in the state, K-12, should have to be certified to teach African American history.
That recommendation will be a part of a report the commission is expected to release in August.
