As a public school teacher, I wish the state would appropriate funds to more mental health and behavioral services. I am perplexed at why the VDOE finds this an appropirate additions to the SOLs? There is an abundance of troubled kids today, and the pandemic lockdowns only worsened this problem.  Us teachers cannot manage the dysfunction that persists in classrooms. Sadly, SEL is not the answer to family dysfunction and neglected children.  This only further worsens the problems we deal with.  Us teachers are in the classroom to teach. Please support that! Based on these standards, us teachers may be put put in inappropriate positions as students are encouraged to share their troubled emotions.  As much as we wish we could wear more hats, we did not go to into teaching to oversee social emotional health. We aspire to teach core academics to the next generation: science, math, history & language arts.  We want to inspire students to learn, instill work ethic, and creativity.  We are not there to push political agendas.  I do no want to incorporate this clearly political agenda onto my students. Please consider the best and brightest teachers find options outside of the public system in order to stay true to their calling because of these inappropriate and excessive standards of learning.