Let's teach our kids why America is worth fighting for
Education chief meets with 40+ groups as polling shows 93% of Americans think citizens lack basic civic knowledge
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Sept. 17, in Washington, D.C., a coalition of more than 40 groups gathered with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to plan to upgrade civic and history education on the eve of America’s semiquincentennial — the 250th birthday of our independence in 2026.
Education leaders and policymakers started the process of fortifying classrooms against the corrosive tide of anti-American indoctrination that’s poisoned too many young minds, replacing this indoctrination with a robust curriculum in history and civics that reignites pride in the greatest experiment in human liberty the world has ever known.
In a time when leftist agitators unleash waves of violence — from campus riots to street-level chaos — this isn’t just about dusty textbooks. It’s about arming the next generation with the knowledge to engage in the civil discourse our republic demands, turning down the temperature on a nation fraying at the edges.
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Polling conducted for the America First Policy Institute unambiguously show that Americans get it: We’re a patriotic people, failed by our public education system — and the consequences are tearing at our seams. Americans — 86% of us — agree that a strong America makes the world a better place and 86% see the Stars and Stripes not as a relic of oppression, but as a beacon of patriotism and unity.
George Washington, portrait painting by Constable-Hamilton, 1794. From the New York Public Library. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
It’s a resounding rebuke to the relentless propaganda machine that frames our founding as original sin, our heroes as villains, and our progress as plunder.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yet, as we stand on the cusp of 250 years, there’s a yawning gap: civic literacy. A slim 23% think schools do an adequate job teaching U.S. history. Nearly all of us, 93%, agree that too many citizens are clueless about the basics.
The proof is in the quiz. When asked to answer 18 questions similar to those on the naturalization test — the verbal gauntlet immigrants must pass to become citizens — 86% of native-born adults scraped by with a passing grade (11 out of 18 correct). We nailed the easy ones: 98% know a president’s term is four years; 97% peg George Washington as our first chief executive. And 93% can explain the flag’s stripes or name "The Star-Spangled Banner."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But dig deeper, and the cracks show. Only 74% can name the three branches of government. Just 69% grasp the president’s core duties. And a shocking 41% wrongly think House members face re-election every four years — that’s the presidential cycle, not theirs. Even foundational stuff trips folks up: Just 65% credit President Thomas Jefferson with penning the Declaration of Independence, and 20% bizarrely inject First Amendment rights into its celebrated trio of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
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Unfortunately, 56% flubbed more than five questions of 18 — were it the real naturalization test, with only 10 questions, of which you can miss only four, they’d be in serious danger of failing. This isn’t mere trivia; it’s the scaffolding of self-government. In an era of targeted violence from the radical left — whether Molotov cocktails lobbed at federal buildings or the organized thuggery that turns protests into pogroms — ignorance breeds division.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Without a shared understanding of why America is exceptional, why our Constitution is a bulwark against tyranny, extremists fill the void with rage. Pride in our history isn’t jingoism; it’s the antidote to hatred-fueled anarchy. Fostering reasoned debate based on a shared understanding of civics and history lets us hash out differences without hurling bricks.
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The good news? Americans aren’t just griping — we’re united on fixes. A whopping 82% back a bold idea: Require every high school grad to pass a civics test like the naturalization exam before grabbing that diploma. Imagine it — kids drilled not in grievance studies, but in the genius of federalism, the sacrifices of Valley Forge and the miracle of 1776.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yet, as we stand on the cusp of 250 years, there’s a yawning gap: civic literacy. A slim 23% think schools do an adequate job teaching U.S. history. Nearly all of us, 93%, agree that too many citizens are clueless about the basics.
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This isn’t nostalgia; it’s necessity. As the left’s street-level fury escalates — a direct outgrowth of their victimhood curriculum — bolstering civic pride will knit us back together. Knowledgeable citizens don’t burn flags; they wave them. They don’t shout down opponents; they out-argue them, as Charlie Kirk modeled. They don’t despair; they build.
Heading into our 250th, let’s demand schools teach truth, not a false shame. Mandate that civics test. And let’s strive to renew an appreciation for America’s promise to secure the blessings of liberty for another quarter-millennium.
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