A push to allow African American studies as a history credit for Virginia high schoolers cleared a major hurdle Monday, with bills advancing in both the House and Senate.

House Bill 1824, introduced by Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun, and Senate Bill 1462, sponsored by Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, would let students substitute African American history or AP African American studies for required history and social studies credits. The Senate bill was amended to swap it in for World History II instead of Virginia and U.S. History.

Both measures cleared their respective chambers on second reading, making a final nod on Tuesday all but certain. The effort has drawn strong support from educators.

“We believe that African American history is U.S. history, and we, the executive board of the VSSLC, are excited to support this bill,” said Neely Minton, co-legislative liaison and president-elect of the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium, at a January subcommittee hearing.

However, some lawmakers pushed for adjustments. Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, a public school teacher, backed an amendment to ensure that “every kid” still takes Virginia and U.S. History.

The debate over African American studies comes amid heightened scrutiny of race-related curriculum by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. The first AP African American studies course was added last year, but not without controversy — Youngkin’s education department proposed dozens of revisions before its approval, The Washington Post reported.

With both bills now moving forward, the next test will come at crossover, when the opposite chambers review and vote on the proposals.

If they pass, they head to Youngkin’s desk for final approval.

This story originally appeared at VirginiaMercury.com.