As two local school districts deal with a textbook recently spotlighted for a historical error related to African-American contributions to the Confederacy during the Civil War, the book's publisher on Thursday announced a quick fix that should be available within weeks.

The Washington Post reported on the inaccuracy Wednesday after a College of William and Mary history professor saw it in her daughter's copy of "Our Virginia: Past and Present" a fourth-grade history text about the commonwealth.

The book states, "Thousands of Southern blacks fought in the Confederate ranks, including two black battalions under the command of Stonewall Jackson." Those assertions are not supported by Civil War scholarship, said Carol Sheriff, the William and Mary history professor who brought the error to light.

"This is a factual error of monumental proportions in that it will likely confuse people about the absolute core issue of the war," Sheriff said in an interview Thursday.

Five Ponds Press, which published the textbook, on Thursday announced it would issue "sticker labels that can be pasted over the paragraph in the text that has been questioned," according to Theresa Redd, social studies coordinator for Williamsburg-James City County Schools, which began using the book this year. Locally, the book is also being used by Newport News Public Schools.

In the meantime, the state Department of Education is working to ensure teachers are aware of the inaccuracy and are prepared to teach around it when their classes reach the section on the Civil War, said Charles Pyle, a VDOE spokesman.

Pyle said textbooks are rarely the primary source of information for today's students, but added, "we are confident that our fourth-grade teachers around the state will be able to work around this dubious statement in the book."

Beyond a correction, Sheriff hopes teachers and parents will choose not simply to ignore or overlook the issue, but use it to help students understand proper historical research.

The information the text's author, Joy Masoff, included was reportedly found during an Internet search that turned up sources traced to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who have traditionally insisted that slavery was not a core cause of the Civil War.

"This is not just a factual error, it's one coming from sources that are trying to perpetuate an alternate understanding of the core causes of the war, one that is not founded in historical evidence," Sheriff said. "I sincerely hope teachers can use this as a teachable moment about the perils of using the Internet in an indiscriminate way and as a way to teach our children about the process of doing historical research."

Educators responded quickly to the controversy. At a Council of Social Studies Educators conference held in Williamsburg on Thursday, participating teachers had already begun discuss developing a lesson plan for fourth grade teachers to teach different historical perspectives, said Greg Davy, a Williamsburg-James City County Schools spokesman.

The WJCC School Board voted 4-2 in July to adopt the textbook and a sixth-grade American history book from the same publisher at a total cost of $88,825. The decision was made after the book was vetted against state-approved competitors by a committee consisting of school system staff members and community representatives, then commented on by the public, Davy said.

Sheriff also hoped the controversy would shed light on the need for professional scholars in the creation of children's textbooks.

"I think it's essential that this whole incident opens a wider conversation about how children's textbooks are created," she said. "At some level, experts need to be involved in the creation of textbooks."

The Newport News school board adopted the $47 book 7-0 at its May meeting as part of a larger package of social studies curricula, but steps are being taken to ensure teachers are aware of the questionable passage, said Michelle Price, a Newport News Public Schools spokeswoman.

"Our instructional supervisors will work to ensure that teachers, parents and students understand that the sentence does not reflect accepted Civil War scholarship and does not align with the content of the Virginia Standards of Learning," Price said.

Gloucester schools have not adopted the text, but do have supplemental copies in some schools, said Superintendent Ben Kiser.

Hampton, Poquoson, York and Isle of Wight County schools are not using the book.