James, The Virginia SOLs are for FAMOUS AMERICANS, not strickly Virginians. You would not want Virginia children to grow up not knowing about the famous people from around the country who helped shape this great nation, now would you? By the way, Virginia had its own Rosa Parks in Irene Morgan. If you don't know who Irene Morgan is (not was, she's still alive), check out: http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/famamer/Morgan.html The Virginia SOLs have their limitations. For example, Virginia children learn that Virginia contributed eight presidents. In truth, they contributed ten. Eight were presidents of the United States, but Sam Houston became the President of the Republic of Texas, and J. J. Roberts became the President of Liberia. When I was running the computer lab at Southside Elementary, I had pictures of some Famous Americans as wallpaper on the computer screens in the lab. One, of course, was a picture of M. L. King. One kindergartner came in the lab, looked at the picture of King, and said, "That's my favorite president". And, wouldn't you know it, that little fellow, with his blonde hair and blue eyes showed the wisdom of our children learning about ALL the heroes of our culture!!! Anne Anne Pemberton [log in to unmask] http://www.erols.com/apembert http://www.educationalsynthesis.org