Public Education Parents Should Oppose the America 250 Civics Education Coalition

  • In February of 2025, the American Historical Association Organization of American Historians (OAH) issued a statement on President Trump’s Executive Order to end radical indoctrination in public education. The statement says, “The executive order “grossly mischaracterizes history education across the United States, alleging educational malpractice.” “The executive order’s narrow conception of patriotism and patriotic education does more than deny the actual history of American democracy; it also undermines its own goals of a rigorous education and merit-based society,” the statement reads. “We reject the premise that it is ‘anti-American’ or ‘subversive’ to learn the full history of the United States with its rich and dramatic contradictions, challenges, and conflicts alongside its achievements, innovations, and opportunities.” The AHA statement also states that 40 organizations have signed on.

    Since then, the U.S. Department of Education has joined forces with several conservative organizations to create the America 250 Civics Education Coalition. Secretary McMahon has kicked off the History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence to renew patriotism, strengthen civic knowledge, and advance a shared understanding of America’s founding principles in schools across the nation. The tour kicked off at Foose Elementary School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Dec. 4, 2025.

    When the History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour landed at Cedar Drive Middle School in Colts Neck, New Jersey, and some parents protested outside, expressing concerns about the event’s nature. Several parents decided to keep their children home, reflecting the community’s divided views. The school’s letter described the event as a ‘meaningful, nonpartisan initiative’ to inspire interest in U.S. history and civic responsibility, according to Superintendent MaryJane Garibay. However, State Sen. Vin Gopal criticized the school board for hosting what he called a political event, calling them a “partisan group” and highlighting the outrage from many parents, including those with conservative beliefs.

    U.S. Education chief pushes patriotic curriculum at Jersey Shore school | app.com

    Why Oppose America 250 Civics Education Coalition?

    The information below can be used for School Board Public Comment should a Colorado School Board attempt to adopt a Recognizing and celebrating America’s Semiquincentennial Resolution

    1. The organizations listed in the America 250 Civics Education Coalition Press Release often support anti-public school policies, such as school vouchers and conservative charter schools, also known as classical schools.
    2. Several of the America 250 Civics Education Coalition organizations oppose inclusive education policies and inclusive instruction, which are counterproductive to Colorado’s goals of inclusive Social Studies lessons.
    3. The agenda for Turning Point USA is to promote Christian Nationalism. Colorado public schools are nonpartisan and include students from families of various religious and political backgrounds.
    4. The America 250 Civics Education Coalition forces public school children to sit through a political event, diverting classroom instructional time.
    5. In reference to the President’s Executive Order, Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling….. According to James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, “What Trump is trying to resurrect is something that was thoroughly discredited by the professional historical community in a totally apolitical context,” “There’s lots of places to look and see what happens when history education gets stripped of its professional integrity in the interest of a political party.” Trump May Wish to Abolish the Past. We Historians Will Not.

    What are the Colorado Connections?

    The America 250 Civics Education Conservative Coalition includes organizations such as the 1776 Project Foundation, National Association of Scholars, Alliance Defending Freedom, Moms for Liberty, PragerU, Turning Point USA, Leadership Institute, and America First Policy Institute. See the complete list of participants here. Several of the organizations that support America 250 Civics Education Coalition have already been active in Colorado and do not support Colorado Public Schools.

    • The 1776 Project Foundation
      • The 1776 Project Foundation has created a school board Resolution called Recognizing and celebrating America’s Semiquincentennial. Ryan Girdusky is the founder of the 1776 Project PAC and the 1776 Project Foundation. The Foundation was launched by the 1776 Project PAC in February 2025. The Foundation operates as a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its mission is to function as an “intellectual backbone” or “think tank” for the movement, developing and disseminating model policies, research, and handbooks to assist the elected school board members in implementing education reform. 
      • Colorado Connection– during the 2021 School Board election cycle, the 1776 Project PAC endorsed several Colorado School Board candidates.
    • The National Association of Scholars (NAS)
      • NAS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, politically conservative education advocacy organization. It is a network of scholars and citizens committed to what it describes as “academic freedom, disinterested scholarship, and excellence in American higher education.”
      • Colorado Connection– NAS formed the Civics Alliance, which attempted to persuade the Colorado Board of Education to pass the American Birthright Social Studies Standards. Woodland Park School District adopted the American Birthright Social Studies Standards.
    • Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)
      • An American conservative Christian legal advocacy group that the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a hate group. ADF has been involved in numerous high-profile legal actions.
      • Colorado Connection– In Colorado, primarily through lawsuits challenging the state’s anti-discrimination laws and policies related to free speech, religious freedom, and parental rights. ADF is representing parents suing a school district over a policy that allows students to share overnight accommodations (beds, bedrooms, showers) based on gender identity rather than biological sex, without parental consent or a sex-separated alternative.
    • Moms for Liberty
      • A national conservative non-profit organization that advocates for “parental rights” in education. The group, which describes itself as a grassroots movement, works to elect school board candidates who align with its views and has become influential in Republican politics. Moms for Liberty supports school vouchers and has created a movement to restrict curricula and ban books.
      • Colorado Connection-Colorado has several Moms for Liberty County Chapters. El Paso County Moms for Liberty CNN Interview
    • PragerU
      • Prager University Foundation is 501(c)(3) nonprofit media organization that creates and distributes short videos and educational materials promoting conservative and capitalist viewpoints. Despite its name, it is not an accredited academic institution and does not confer degrees. A Forbes article says, “Content on the PragerU Kids YouTube channel, which has received backlash, includes a video depicting a cartoon Christopher Columbus saying slavery wasn’t an issue during his time period because of its widespread use and another describing George Floyd as a “Black man who resisted arrest.”
      • Colorado Connection- As of Dec. 2025, there is no evidence that CDE & Colorado Public School Districts have adopted the PragerU curriculum.
    • Turning Point USA
      • Turning Point USA is a nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics and values on high school and college campuses. Founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, it has grown into a significant force in conservative youth activism, aiming to educate, train, and organize students to promote free-market principles, limited government, and traditional American values. The Turning Point Education website includes a school board watch list and a professor watchlist.
      • Colorado Connection– Colorado Universities and High Schools have Turning Point chapters. Colorado Turning Point USA. In addition, the Turning Point Education website lists 14 Colorado Schools that are Turning Point Education Association Affiliates. The schools include Classical Academies, Christian Academies, and homeschool programs that teach a biblical worldview and use a Classical Christian framework. Curricula used at Classical Schools include Abeka, Bob Jones Science, and Singapore Math, among others.
    • Leadership Institute
      • The Leadership Institute is explicitly conservative and aims to promote free enterprise, limited government, strong national defense, and traditional values.
      • Colorado Connection– In Colorado the Leadership Institute has held school board trainings and Education Policy Summits with School Boards for Academic Excellence and Colorado Leaders for Academic Success.
    • Hillsdale College 
      • Hillsdale is a Christian College based in Michigan that provides a free online curriculum called The Hillsdale 1776.
      • Colorado Connection– In 2020, the Colorado-based State Policy Network Partner, The Steamboat Institute, presented the Courage in Education Award to Hillsdale President Larry Arnn.

    • America First Policy Institute (AFPI)
      • The America First Policy Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservative think tank and advocacy organization founded in 2021 by former advisors to President Donald Trump. It was established to promote the “America First” public policy agenda associated with the Trump administration. 
      • Erika Donalds, whose charter school company was recently exposed on CBS Mornings, is the co-chair of the American First Policy Institute’s America 250 Civics Coalition. She is also the founder of OptimaEd, a former Collier County, Florida, School Board member, Chair of the Center for Education Opportunity, and the Chair of the AFPI-Florida State Chapter at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI). 
      • Colorado Connection- AFPI & CPAN filed an open records request in the Cherry Creek School District.

  • Articles

    • America 250 and the Future of Civics Education | Interfaith Alliance
      • “Public schools serve students of every background, faith, and worldview. For civics to prepare a new generation of young people for democracy, it must teach them to hold difference, to think critically, and to ask hard questions about power and belonging. If the America 250 Civics Coalition succeeds in narrowing that conversation, it will undermine the very democratic participation it claims to promote.”
    • Parents furious as ‘patriotic’ event tied to Charlie Kirk comes to N.J. school. ‘I’m absolutely speechless.’ | NJ.com
      • “We all want to support civic education and patriotism and those things. But to make sure that we’re using a balanced and evidence-based curriculum that presents factual, inclusive accounts,” she said.
    • U.S. Education Dept. unites conservative groups to create ‘patriotic’ civics content | NPR
      • “Called the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, the project will be overseen by the Education Department and led by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonprofit conservative group. It includes Turning Point USA, the Heritage Foundation, Hillsdale College, and other conservative state and national organizations.”
    • Trump May Wish to Abolish the Past. We Historians Will Not. | The New Republic
      • “Similarly, the order’s assertion that children are being indoctrinated in classrooms and that “parents” generally want their children educated to this narrow patriotic standard is clearly belied by the evidence. Data from a recent survey undertaken by the American Historical Association indicates that people need and desire good, critical history, especially as a buoy in our polarized political culture.”

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