As a parent and teacher who has seen the impacts of a weakening math curriculum and an almost non existent social studies curriculum (water down science too mind you), I think VDOE could stand to focus on the academic program of our children and leave SEL to parents or counselors if a child needed assistance in that. Classroom teachers already have too much on their plate to be adequately trained in addressing socially sensitive material like this. They are not counselors and did not sign up to be one. Also after serving students as a tutor 11+ years I have come to realize that basic foundational skills are not fully fleshed out and instead we are using exposure therapy to teach kids math and other content areas. Let's return our focus to the academic program of our children- the original mission of the VDOE.