Virginia school district faces probe over 9/11 teaching guide telling teachers not to ‘center the extremists’

EXCLUSIVE: America First Legal (AFL) has launched an investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia after Fox News Digital first exposed controversial guidance for teaching the 9/11 terrorist attacks, seeking to determine who was responsible for developing instructions that tell teachers not to "center the extremists or the acts of the extremists."

The conservative legal group announced the investigation after Fox News Digital first reported on the FCPS guide ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

The district's guidance tells teachers not to "associate the 9/11 attacks with Islam or Muslims" or "center the extremists or the acts of the extremists."

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AFL is seeking to examine how the school district arrived at the guidance for teaching 9/11 to students. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images, File)

"We wanna know where this comes from. We wanna know who the school is working with to develop these guidances," America First Legal senior counsel Ian Prior told Fox News Digital.

Prior said AFL is seeking to examine how FCPS arrived at the guidance and whether any outside organizations participated in its development, but acknowledged AFL has not yet determined whether that occurred.

"We're still seeking to determine how far this goes," Prior said. "That's why we're investigating so that we can get to the bottom of it."

The investigation was directly prompted by Fox News Digital's reporting, Prior said.

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Fairfax County Public Schools provides teachers with a guide that includes "critical considerations" to avoid discussing the extremist interpretation of Islam that motivated the 9/11 hijackers. (Fairfax County Public Schools)

"The reason why we're investigating now is because this was just reported," he said, adding that AFL saw the report "just like everybody else" and wanted to determine who FCPS was working with when the guidance was developed.

In announcing its investigation, AFL is accusing the school district of attempting to "sanitize history" and calling for "full transparency regarding who is responsible" for the guidance. The group's announcement directs readers to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, though the two-page release itself does not detail the records sought.

The six-page FCPS guide, titled "25th Anniversary and Commemoration of 9/11," was published Aug. 27 and edited Aug. 31. It directs teachers who choose to commemorate the attacks to carefully follow the district's guidance and use only instructional resources available through the district's Atlas site.

FCPS tells educators that lessons about the attacks can unintentionally stigmatize Muslim and Middle Eastern students and instructs teachers to prepare for anti-Muslim rhetoric, create "safe spaces" for Muslim and Middle Eastern students and challenge expressions of bias.

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Fairfax County Public Schools provides teachers a guidance on teaching about the 9/11 attacks with an emphasis on challenging "anti-Muslim racism." (Fairfax County Public Schools)

Fairfax County Public Schools did not directly answer Fox News Digital's questions about who authored and approved the guidance, whether outside organizations were involved in its development or whether the district has made or considered changes to the document. The district referred Fox News Digital to a statement published on Sept. 11.

In that statement, Superintendent Michelle Reid said FCPS "unequivocally condemn[s]" the 9/11 terrorist attacks and emphasized the district's connection to the Pentagon, military families, first responders and survivors.

The statement also said FCPS was "reviewing our materials" in response to community feedback, while maintaining that "the actions of terrorists should not define the entirety of any faith, culture, or community."

FCPS's Sept. 11 statement provides some information about how the materials were reviewed, but does not identify who authored the six-page guide or who approved its final language.

Prior argued that schools can teach students about the ideology that motivated the Sept. 11 terrorists without assigning collective responsibility to Muslims.

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For elementary students, the district suggests teachers could open by saying, "Twenty-five years ago today, there was an attack on the United States." (iStock)

The district's guidance similarly states that teachers should make clear that al Qaeda carried out the attacks, while drawing a distinction between the terrorist organization and Muslims as a whole.

"When discussing this topic with students, please make clear that the September 11 attacks were carried out by Al-Qaeda, a terrorist extremist organization," the guide states. "Al-Qaeda’s ideology and actions should not be attributed to Islam or to Muslims as a religious community."

The dispute centers in part on how much emphasis teachers should place on the terrorists and their ideology when commemorating the attacks.

FCPS tells teachers that "the commemoration of 9/11 focuses on those whose lives were lost and those who sacrificed to help others — not those who attacked the United States." The guide encourages teachers to emphasize stories of "resilience, support, and resistance" and use age-appropriate details about the violence.

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Flowers and American flags are seen next to inscribed names at a reflecting pool at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Sept. 11, in New York City. (Jeenah Moon/Pool/Getty Images)

For elementary students, the district suggests teachers could open by saying, "Twenty-five years ago today, there was an attack on the United States," before allowing students' questions to determine what additional information is shared at the teacher's professional discretion.

Its suggested language for older students is considerably more specific, stating that "members of the extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four planes in a coordinated terrorist attack on the United States" before recounting the 2,977 people killed, including civilians, military personnel at the Pentagon and emergency workers. The guidance also highlights the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who fought back against the hijackers.

FCPS said in the guide that its approach reflects the varied experiences of families in the Northern Virginia district, where some were personally affected by the attacks and the ensuing War on Terror.

"Many families of military personnel and first responders experienced loss and hardship," the document states, while also saying Muslim families worry about harassment and hate crimes surrounding the anniversary.

AFL argues the district's approach goes too far.

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"Fairfax County Public Schools is attempting to sanitize history and erase the radical Islamic terrorism that struck our nation on September 11, 2001," AFL counsel Will Scolinos said in announcing the investigation. "Parents and the public must have full transparency regarding who is responsible for stripping truth from our children’s classrooms."

Prior said AFL has not determined what action could ultimately follow its investigation and that the group's next steps will depend on what it finds.

Fox News Digital's Asra Nomani contributed to this reporting.