What are your thoughts on the restructuring of the Department of Education?
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please read this. Please be kind to each other in the comments, this is a safe space for the sharing of thoughts.
https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-afpi-tpusa-hillsdale-college-and-over-40-national-and-state-organizations-launch-america-250-civics-coalition#:~:text=Home-,U.S
Key points of the initiative:
• The coalition aims to “renew patriotism, strengthen civic knowledge, and advance a shared understanding of America’s founding principles” in K–12 and higher education settings.
• It is positioned as part of the lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary (in 2026) and is tied to the previous administration’s emphasis on patriotic education.
• The coalition will develop and deliver programming over the next year, including a “Fundamental Liberties College Speaker Series,” a 50-state speaking tour on college campuses, and other civic engagement efforts.
• Prominent figures leading or quoted in the press release include Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, and leadership from AFPI and Turning Point USA.
• The partner organizations include a constellation of conservative or right-of-center think tanks, policy institutes, and civic groups (e.g. Heritage Foundation, PragerU, American Cornerstone Institute, etc.).
Personal thoughts and concerns
I find this quite terrifying. I don’t enjoy the idea of children being presented skewed/biased information. The plan is to essentially water down/erase facts about U.S. History, and teaching kids about being “patriotic”. It seems more like indoctrination than anything. From what I have gathered from this, they plan on forcing religion and private organizations into the public school systems on a national level. Government endorsed religion is unconstitutional. It breaks our first amendment rights. The fact that this is all happening and nobody has tried to protest/fight this is insane.
Edit: Just adding more detailed thoughts here. I’m just yappin atp
Many of the coalition partners are openly conservative or right-leaning organizations (e.g. Turning Point USA, AFPI, Heritage Foundation, PragerU, etc.), there is a risk that the “civics education” being promoted will favor a particular ideological interpretation of U.S. history, constitutional principles, and civic identity. It is also very possible that they can omit difficult aspects of U.S. history (such as slavery, systemic racism, indigenous dispossession, internment of Japanese Americans, Jim Crow, civil rights struggles, women’s suffrage struggles, etc.). If the curriculum privileges a celebratory narrative, it risks creating a one-sided or whitewashed understanding of the past.
Effective civics education should expose students to historical conflict, ambiguity, and debate. If the coalition’s materials or programs prioritize consensus, unity, and “shared values” over contestation and debate, students might be discouraged from questioning or dissenting, which is antithetical to democratic citizenship. I understand a watering down of history has been a continuous battle, however I believe that it can and should stop with us here in 2025. We can be better than those before us, we can and should welcome an UNBIASED view of our history.
Many of the coalition members are private ideologically motivated organizations. There may be limited oversight or review of the educational content they produce. Without transparent peer review or public scrutiny, there is potential for biased or historically misleading materials to be disseminated.
https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-afpi-tpusa-hillsdale-college-and-over-40-national-and-state-organizations-launch-america-250-civics-coalition#:~:text=Home-,U.S
Key points of the initiative:
• The coalition aims to “renew patriotism, strengthen civic knowledge, and advance a shared understanding of America’s founding principles” in K–12 and higher education settings.
• It is positioned as part of the lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary (in 2026) and is tied to the previous administration’s emphasis on patriotic education.
• The coalition will develop and deliver programming over the next year, including a “Fundamental Liberties College Speaker Series,” a 50-state speaking tour on college campuses, and other civic engagement efforts.
• Prominent figures leading or quoted in the press release include Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, and leadership from AFPI and Turning Point USA.
• The partner organizations include a constellation of conservative or right-of-center think tanks, policy institutes, and civic groups (e.g. Heritage Foundation, PragerU, American Cornerstone Institute, etc.).
Personal thoughts and concerns
I find this quite terrifying. I don’t enjoy the idea of children being presented skewed/biased information. The plan is to essentially water down/erase facts about U.S. History, and teaching kids about being “patriotic”. It seems more like indoctrination than anything. From what I have gathered from this, they plan on forcing religion and private organizations into the public school systems on a national level. Government endorsed religion is unconstitutional. It breaks our first amendment rights. The fact that this is all happening and nobody has tried to protest/fight this is insane.
Edit: Just adding more detailed thoughts here. I’m just yappin atp
Many of the coalition partners are openly conservative or right-leaning organizations (e.g. Turning Point USA, AFPI, Heritage Foundation, PragerU, etc.), there is a risk that the “civics education” being promoted will favor a particular ideological interpretation of U.S. history, constitutional principles, and civic identity. It is also very possible that they can omit difficult aspects of U.S. history (such as slavery, systemic racism, indigenous dispossession, internment of Japanese Americans, Jim Crow, civil rights struggles, women’s suffrage struggles, etc.). If the curriculum privileges a celebratory narrative, it risks creating a one-sided or whitewashed understanding of the past.
Effective civics education should expose students to historical conflict, ambiguity, and debate. If the coalition’s materials or programs prioritize consensus, unity, and “shared values” over contestation and debate, students might be discouraged from questioning or dissenting, which is antithetical to democratic citizenship. I understand a watering down of history has been a continuous battle, however I believe that it can and should stop with us here in 2025. We can be better than those before us, we can and should welcome an UNBIASED view of our history.
Many of the coalition members are private ideologically motivated organizations. There may be limited oversight or review of the educational content they produce. Without transparent peer review or public scrutiny, there is potential for biased or historically misleading materials to be disseminated.
