US House Democrats Question Trump Administration Focus on ‘Patriotic Education’

WASHINGTON — A group of Democrats on the U.S. House education panel urged the Education Department to withdraw its proposed supplemental priority on “promoting patriotic education” in a letter obtained Monday by States Newsroom.

House Committee on Education and Workforce ranking member Bobby Scott led a handful of his colleagues in writing to Education Secretary Linda McMahon opposing the proposed priority for discretionary grant funding.

The Democrats wrote that while civics education “is a vital component of a well-functioning democracy,” the proposal’s details “raise serious concerns.” The letter was sent Oct. 17 — the last day to submit a comment on the proposed priority. It has not been previously reported.

Joining Scott, of Virginia, were Reps. Frederica Wilson of Florida, Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, Mark Takano and Mark DeSaulnier of California, Lucy McBath of Georgia, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Yassamin Ansari of Arizona.

Dems reject Trump hand in curriculum

The Democrats said the agency’s proposal would insert President Donald Trump’s administration’s “preferences of a particular understanding of American history in curriculum, professional development, and educational programs.”

Civics is a branch of social studies that focuses on rights and obligations of citizenship. Though it’s long enjoyed bipartisan support, the subject has found itself engulfed in the education culture wars regarding how and what is taught as America reckons with its complicated history.

The department announced last month it would be prioritizing “patriotic education” when it comes to discretionary grants.

The department’s proposed definition of “patriotic education” calls for a presentation of America’s history that is grounded in an “accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of the American founding and foundational principles” and “the concept that commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified.”

But the Democrats found this definition to be “concerning,” saying this framing “creates the potential for schools that teach accurate and complex histories of slavery, Indigenous displacement, the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement to be limited in their ability to access certain discretionary grants.”

Coalition to promote patriotism

The department’s September announcement came the same day it unveiled a civics education coalition that includes a slew of prominent conservative advocacy organizations, such as the Heritage Foundation and Turning Point USA.

Left out of that initiative are some of the more traditional civics and education groups. Instead, many of the coalition’s groups have promoted Trump’s political agenda and promote a vision of U.S. identity that downplays historical wrongs associated with race and gender and projects the country as an exceptional force for good.

“Some of these groups have expressed contempt for the teaching of history that does not align with the version of history they believe students should learn, and these same groups would prefer to limit children’s access to materials that depict the realities of slavery in America or the Civil Rights Movement,” the Democrats wrote.

The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

by Shauneen Miranda, Virginia Mercury

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.