In March, the Trump Administration issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/">Executive Order</a> (EO) calling for a restoration of “Truth and Sanity to American History” which included a review of the Smithsonian Institute Museums. Now, the Administration is making good on that EO.
Naturally, politicians, Left-wing media, and the far-Left are pouncing with charges of &#8220;Stalinist tactics,” “fascism,” and “Trump’s historical vision.”
Yet, the most glaring example to justify the Administration’s action is the now <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/smithsonian-race-guidelines-rational-thinking-hard-work-are-white-values-1518333">infamous</a> Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture’s &#8220;Aspects and Assumptions of Whiteness in the United States.&#8221;
But it is not just the one museum, the American Art Museum also features a <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/furthering-conversation-about-whiteness">page</a> titled “Furthering the Conversation About Whiteness.”
While the auditing of these institutions is probably overdue and necessary, there also needs to be a spotlight put on the teaching of culture and history in our educational institutions, especially K-12 schools.
The defensive position from the Left is that they just want to teach “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/27/opinions/teachers-union-critical-race-theory-schools-weingarten">honest history</a>.” Meant to sound noble, this is nothing more than wordplay. It is misdirection in an attempt to hide their heavily curated and far-Left [re]vision of history.
“Honest history,” as they will have the public believe, is just teaching the history of “underrepresented groups” to highlight their contributions to the United States. However, peel back the feel-good façade and it is clear there is a political agenda to advance anti-American, anti-Western ideologies – i.e. anti-“whiteness.”
In the context of K-12 education, there is no clearer example of this than [liberated/critical] ethnic studies.
Sold to school districts, parents, students, and the public writ large as the teaching of history and culture of minority groups, it is a far-Left radical political programming.
It is agitprop being deployed on children into K-12 schools. Amping up their emotions, preying on their empathy, and then feeding them politically biased content.
It’s general framework begins with a heavy focus on a student’s various racial and ethnic “identities,” or intersectionality. The intention is to create a strong tribal attachment to the student’s collective identities.
It then introduces “<a href="https://www.newsmax.com/politics/critical-competency-consciousness/2023/12/07/id/1145144/">critical consciousness</a>,” which trains students to find racism and oppression everywhere in their lives. Driving them into a constant state of anxiety and fear.
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For example, a recent Castro Valley Unified School District ethnic studies <a href="https://cvk12ca.community.highbond.com/document/cf8c0982-2db8-464f-83da-7932fab50636/">presentation</a> to the district board demonstrates this via student art which states “As an Asian American, racism is prevalent all around me.”
Ethnic studies activate deep feelings of anger and resentment in students towards the United States, and even towards their white teachers and peers.
A <a href="https://cla.umn.edu/ridgs/ethnic-studies-initiative/ethnic-studies-evaluation-projects">review</a> of Saint Paul Publics Schools’ ethnic studies program by the University of Minnesota highlights several students’ reflections on the course. One anonymous student stated &#8220;Why would a course about being critical have white teachers? My school has one [B]lack teacher teaching it. How can we be critical if we don’t listen to the voices who are firstly impacted? Also, white teachers even if they mean well will implement their own biases that students will have to deal with.”
The political programming continues by creating heroes, legends, and mythology through the intentional curation of historical events and peoples that have modeled “resistance” against whiteness. Examples include <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/ethnic-studies-course-features-poster-of-che-guevara-on-wall-includes-content-focused-on-white-supremacy-and-privilege/">Che Guevara</a>, the <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/scotts-valley-unified-school-district-ethnic-studies-course-teaches-students-that-capitalism-heterosexism-and-ableism-are-systems-of-oppression-and-forms-of-oppression-requires-students-to-part/">Black Panther Party, Angela Davis</a>, and even a defense of <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/san-francisco-unified-school-district-provides-resource-to-social-studies-and-ethnic-studies-teachers-that-claims-israeli-terrorism-has-been-significantly-worse-than-that-of-the-palestinians-reso/">anti-Israel</a> activism and terrorism.
Finally, students are taught and required to engage in far-Left social justice activism. Under the guise of “Youth Participatory Action Research,” students are trained to become street <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2023/11/20/staley-k-12-student-demonstrations-equity-double-standard/">activists</a> for the flavor-of-the-day far-Left cause.
Eventually, the goal is to embed it into every single subject area and <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/santa-rosa-city-schools-ethnic-studies-courses-feature-critical-race-theory-whiteness-and-social-justice-activism-paid-ethnic-studies-consultant-530000-over-four-years/">curriculum</a>. They admit this outright.
In California, San Rafael City Schools <a href="https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/ViewMeeting.aspx?S=36030430&amp;MID=24501&amp;enIID=fBHmEqAHmyvMJ3CrfpluszzjQ%3D%3D&amp;srch=ethnic+studies&amp;ktype=Exact&amp;Tab=Agenda">contracted</a> with the University of California Berkeley’s <a href="https://ucbhssp.berkeley.edu/ethnic-studies">History-Social Science Project</a> to integrate ethnic studies “concepts and pedagogies” into the district’s World and U.S. history courses.
The university’s site states that it is assisting teachers and districts in integrating the “<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/13h6vVmJEeVyk1XdBAGZDuxMiZjLhhoYD4loNz7NSlck/copy">CA Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum</a>” into courses, which includes helping teachers “familiarize themselves with&#8230;critical race theory, intersectionality, which are key theoretical frameworks and pedagogies.”
This issue is not about the actual teaching of culture and history; it is about how far-Left actors are advancing their cultural revolution via the long march through American institutions.
While the Administration and public focus their attention on the national museums, heavy scrutiny must simultaneously be placed on the teaching of “honest history” and ethnic studies in K-12.
The advancement of anti-American and anti-Western ideologies need to be removed from classrooms.
* * *
Rhyen Staley is a researcher for Defending Education. He holds a master&#8217;s degree in elementary education and has over a decade of classroom experience in both public and private schools. He has over 25 years of volleyball coaching experience from Women’s Division I down to junior high.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Empty Black Board in Classroom

‘Furthering The Conversation About Whiteness’: Anti-American Rhetoric On The Rise In The Classroom

'Furthering The Conversation About Whiteness': Anti-American Rhetoric On The Rise In The Classroom

American History

California

Critical Race Theory

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Education

Ethnic Studies

Leftists

Opinion

Public Schools

Students

Whiteness

Parents, your child&#8217;s school might be gearing up to push transgender ideology this fall.
As the first day of school approaches, the pressing cultural issue that continues to rile parents and helped catapult Trump to the White House in November remains alive and well in hundreds of school districts across the country despite the president&#8217;s efforts to stamp it out.
During his first weeks in office, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/">signed</a> a pair of executive orders threatening public schools with existential federal funding cuts if they refuse to root out &#8220;gender ideology,&#8221; including erasing it from the curriculum, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/">banning</a> males from girls&#8217; sports teams and locker rooms, and no longer encouraging children&#8217;s &#8220;social transitions,&#8221; which can include using new pronouns, allowing students to use the bathrooms of the opposite sex, and hiding their transgender identities from parents.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a sort of coast-to-coast misconception about the fact that the cavalry&#8217;s arrived and all of these bad policies are suddenly being rescinded,&#8221; said Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president at Defending Education, which fights gender indoctrination in public schools.
&#8220;Unfortunately, factually the reality remains something completely different,&#8221; Perry told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We&#8217;ve seen kind of a mixed bag. There are some [districts] that are holdouts. There are some that are going along to get along, and then there are others who are simply hiding what they&#8217;ve done by pulling off their particular policies from that educational outlet&#8217;s website and essentially passing the buck back to the state.&#8221;
In the wake of Trump&#8217;s orders, some school districts scrambled to comply and scrapped their transgender policies, which they had adopted a few years ago at the peak of the ideology&#8217;s influence.
In deep red Nebraska, Bellevue Public Schools reversed its 2015 policy. The district now allows teachers to disclose a child&#8217;s transgender identity to parents and says students must use the bathroom of their biological sex.
The district cannot afford to lose its $10 million in federal funding, and parents were very concerned, according to Superintendent Jeff Rippe.
“We’ve had concerned students, concerned parents, about this policy,” Rippe <a href="https://www.wowt.com/2025/04/15/bellevue-public-schools-changes-regulation-transgender-students/">said</a>. &#8220;$10 million is what we get in federal funding. And that means a lot to this school district. Speaking personally, we cannot afford to lose $10 million.”
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On the other side of the political aisle, entire blue states have openly bucked Trump&#8217;s orders. The administration is locked in lawsuits with California, Maine, and Minnesota.
Minnesota made the first move in its fight — it <a href="https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2025/04/22_EO_TitleIX.asp">sued</a> the Trump administration in April over the transgender sports order. Meanwhile, the Education Department is <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/12/us-news/education-department-tags-in-doj-to-probe-minnesota-after-trans-athlete-helps-girls-softball-team-win-title/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">investigating</a> Minnesota after a trans-identifying male softball player&#8217;s shutout pitching helped <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boy-pitches-complete-game-shutout-to-win-girls-softball-championship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launch</a> his girls&#8217; team to its first state championship.
California, the biggest player throwing its weight around, <a href="https://edsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Update-Regarding-Compliance-with-Equal-Protection-Clause-of-U.S.-Constitution.pdf">said</a> it would follow the liberal state&#8217;s laws on males in girls&#8217; sports over Trump&#8217;s orders. The Education Department found California in violation of Title IX. When California missed the deadline to comply, the Justice Department sued the Golden State, the next step in terminating its federal education funding.
Governor Gavin Newsom has &#8220;not only not read the room right, he&#8217;s actually not following what both the Constitution&#8217;s Supremacy Clause and Title IX&#8217;s actual direct text indicate he needs to do,&#8221; Perry said.
The Constitution states that federal law — in this case, Title IX — overrides state law.
A similar situation is playing out in Maine.
Governor Janet Mills infamously <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YAQhP_Qtek">snapped</a>, &#8220;We&#8217;ll see you in court,&#8221; to Trump when he called her out in person at a February dinner over Maine allowing males in girls&#8217; sports.
&#8220;Good, I&#8217;ll see you in court,&#8221; Trump told her. &#8220;That should be a real easy one.&#8221;
The Education Department later <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-announces-consequences-maines-title-ix-noncompliance">found</a> Maine in violation of Title IX over its sports policy, and the Justice Department has sued the state, seeking to end its funding.
The Education Department is <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-investigate-title-ix-violations-athletics">also</a> <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-athlete-ban-oregon-d9a84e255bbf797687efadbc5a6a38a2">investigating</a> Massachusetts and Oregon over transgender sports policies, as well as the odd school district here and there — Chicago Public Schools, the Jefferson County district in the Denver area, several Connecticut school districts, and Saratoga Springs, New York, which made a <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/ny/saratogaschools/Board.nsf/files/DF3LRZ57E1E0/$file/DRAFT%20Statement%20by%20the%20SSCSD%20BOE%203-27-25.pdf">show</a> of <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/06/us-news/trump-admin-probes-saratoga-springs-school-for-defying-federal-order-banning-transgender-athletes-in-girls-sports/">defying</a> Trump&#8217;s executive order disallowing boys to participate in girls&#8217; sports, reaffirming &#8220;its unwavering commitment to providing a safe, inclusive, and high-quality education for every student.&#8221;
Red states are not immune to such defiance either.
The Education Department is <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-launches-investigations-four-kansas-school-districts-alleged-title-ix-ferpa-violations?utm_source=chatgpt.com">investigating</a> four Kansas school districts for allowing male students in girls&#8217; sports and bathrooms, and hiding students&#8217; transgender identities from parents.
A slew of other blue states have pushed back directly as well, some explicitly telling their schools to ignore Trump&#8217;s orders, including <a href="https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/nysed-oag-joint-statement-regarding-transgender-students.pdf">New York</a>, <a href="https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/nj-athletic-association-to-keep-open-policy-on-transgender-students/">New Jersey</a>, <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/02/25/illinois-schools-transgender-history-curriculum?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Illinois</a>, <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2025/02/14/michigan-superintendent-says-trump-executive-order-wont-change-state-policy/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Michigan</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxJVErkc6b0">Maryland</a>, <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/01/15/massachusetts-transgender-student-protections-title-ix-newsletter?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Massachusetts</a>, <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/07/pacific-northwest-education-leaders-resist-trump-transgender/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Oregon</a>, <a href="https://riag.ri.gov/press-releases/attorney-general-neronha-and-commissioner-infante-green-issue-guidance-schools-lgbtq?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Rhode Island</a>, and Washington state.
“What I would say is, follow state law, follow state law, and then, if you’re not sure, follow state law,” state Superintendent Chris Reykdal <a href="https://mynorthwest.com/mynorthwest-politics/mead-follow-state-law/4062872">told</a> a Spokane area district school board that expressed concern over Trump&#8217;s executive order.
Other states, including Colorado, Delaware, Connecticut, Vermont, Hawaii, and Washington, D.C., still have transgender education policies in place.
All of those states and more <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-athlete-ban-oregon-d9a84e255bbf797687efadbc5a6a38a2">signed</a> onto a lawsuit opposing Trump&#8217;s executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion ideologies in schools, which includes transgender ideology.
&#8220;Unfortunately, it seems to me that a lot of these blue state governors don&#8217;t have very good attorneys,&#8221; Perry said.
She predicted that the California and Maine lawsuits will eventually end up at the Supreme Court.
&#8220;They&#8217;re more inclined to take up state lawsuits like this because there are two different interpretations of long-standing federal law,&#8221; she said.
Perry noted that last summer, the Supreme Court agreed to block the Biden administration&#8217;s radical new interpretation of Title IX, which included gender identity, in 26 states. All nine justices agreed the plaintiffs were entitled to preliminary injunctions.
&#8220;I think it was a pretty good indication that once they get the case on the merits, people like Gavin Newsom and Governor Janet Mills are going to be roundly disappointed by exactly how it ends up,&#8221; Perry said.
This month, a saga unfolded when five northern Virginia school districts stubbornly clung to their transgender policies, which allow boys in girls&#8217; bathrooms.
The school districts for Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Arlington County, Prince William County, and Alexandria City all announced last week that they would not be changing their policies after the Education Department found them in violation of Title IX.
Loudoun County Public Schools, which became an early flashpoint in the transgender debate after a sexual assault in the girls&#8217; bathroom by a boy in a dress, took the lead in defying the Trump administration. A few days before the deadline, the board <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/08/13/loudoun-county-transgender-policy-education-department/">voted</a> 6-3 to keep its policy. The other four Virginia districts followed suit with similar announcements.
The Education Department has said it will begin the process of pulling federal education funding from the five Virginia school districts, which receive over $50 million and serve nearly 400,000 students.
&#8220;The Virginia districts will have to defend their embrace of radical gender ideology over ensuring the safety of their students,&#8221; an Education Department spokesperson <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-administration-threatens-pull-federal-funds-from-virginia-school-districts-gender-policy-dispute">said</a>.
While all this was going on, two Loudoun County high school boys were also <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/loudoun-county-students-suspended-amid-boys-locker-room-title-ix-probe">suspended</a> and found guilty of sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination for questioning why a girl was changing in the boys&#8217; locker room. Their parents are fighting the decision.
Parents did get a win in Loudoun County last month when the district <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-loudoun-county-teachers-dont-have-to-use-trans-pronouns-court-rules?author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=19&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Loudoun+County+Teachers+Don’t+Have+To+Use+Trans+Pronouns%2C+Court+Rules">backed down</a> on its pronoun policy after several teachers sued. Loudoun was also previously forced to give a physical education teacher his job back after he was suspended for speaking out against the pronoun policy.
Not every school district flouting the Trump administration is doing it so loudly.
More than 21,000 schools at one point followed a policy to hide children&#8217;s transgender identities from parents, according to Defending Education&#8217;s <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/list-of-school-district-transgender-gender-nonconforming-student-policies/">database</a>.
Many never changed those transgender policies and are hoping to fly under the radar.
Corey DeAngelis, a prominent school choice advocate, explained that enforcing Trump&#8217;s executive orders on thousands of individual local districts has proved to be an unwieldy task.
&#8220;Top-down orders aimed at rooting out gender ideology from our schools are welcome developments. They&#8217;re a step in the right direction,&#8221; DeAngelis told The Daily Wire. &#8220;But they are not efficient, because rogue public school employees will continue to skirt the law behind closed doors, and enforcement can prove to be very difficult.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;ve seen the same problem with states banning concepts like Critical Race Theory,&#8221; DeAngelis said, noting that public school administrators in red states have been <a href="https://aim.org/2025/07/07/yet-another-news-outlet-tallies-dei-staffer-departures/">caught</a> on video admitting that they ignored diversity, equity, and inclusion bans.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. That&#8217;s exactly why we also need school choice,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If families get a whiff of something wrong happening in their child&#8217;s school &#8230; they should be able to vote with their feet to schools that align with their values.&#8221;
Parents who wish to keep their children in their public school districts should remain vigilant, Perry said. Thankfully, there is &#8220;intense interest&#8221; among Defending Education&#8217;s 375 parent groups across the country in getting transgender school policies rescinded, she said.
&#8220;I would recommend to parents that they need not sit on their laurels and say this is a mission-accomplished administration, but to actually ask hard questions of their local school board,&#8221; Perry said. &#8220;Will trans-identified males be allowed in their daughter&#8217;s bathrooms or on their daughter&#8217;s sports teams? Will locker rooms be opened up under gender neutrality?&#8221;
&#8220;They need to be diligent in enforcing their rights,&#8221; she concluded.

Donald Trump Campaigns For President In Georgia Ahead Of November Election

Your Child’s School Might Still Be Pushing Transgender Ideology Despite Trump’s Orders

Your Child's School Might Still Be Pushing Transgender Ideology Despite Trump's Orders

Donald Trump

Transgender

A U.S. district judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton temporarily blocked a new Texas law for some school districts on Wednesday, preventing them from being required to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Texas Senate Bill 10 (S.B. 10) was signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Abbott in June. It <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB10/2025">stated</a>, “a public elementary or secondary school shall display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.”
The bill <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB10/2025">stated</a> the Commandments would be listed thus:
<blockquote>
I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.    
Thou shalt not  make to thyself any graven images.   
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.   
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.   
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.   
Thou shalt not kill. 
Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
Thou shalt not steal. 
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 
Thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.   
</blockquote>
Texas would be the largest state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools. Louisiana was the first to pass a law last year, but a federal appeals court blocked it.
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But U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued an injunction on Wednesday that barred 11 school districts named as defendants in a lawsuit from displaying the Ten Commandments. Other public school districts in the state are still bound by the law, which takes effect September 1.
“Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer,” Biery wrote. “There is also insufficient evidence of a broader tradition of using the Ten Commandments in public education, and there is no tradition of permanently displaying the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms. &#8230; There are ways in which students could be taught any relevant history of the Ten Commandments without the state selecting an official version of scripture, approving it in state law, and then displaying it in every classroom on a permanent basis.”
In 1980, in the case Stone v. Graham, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that posting the Ten Commandments in Kentucky public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. Justice William Rehnquist issued a blistering dissent in which he noted:
<blockquote>
The Court rejects the secular purpose articulated by the State because the Decalogue is &#8220;undeniably a sacred text.”  It is equally undeniable, however, as the elected representatives of Kentucky determined, that the Ten Commandments have had a significant impact on the development of secular legal codes of the Western World.
The Establishment Clause does not require that the public sector be insulated from all things which may have a religious significance or origin. This Court has recognized that &#8220;religion has been closely identified with our history and government,&#8221; Abington School District, and that &#8220;[t]he history of man is inseparable from the history of religion,&#8221; Engel v. Vital. Kentucky has decided to make students aware of this fact by demonstrating the secular impact of the Ten Commandments.
</blockquote>
He quoted Justice Robert Jackson, concurring in the 1948 case McCollum v. Board of Education, who wrote:
<blockquote>
I think it remains to be demonstrated whether it is possible, even if desirable, to comply with such demands as plaintiff&#8217;s completely to isolate and cast out of secular education all that some people may reasonably regard as religious instruction. Perhaps subjects such as mathematics, physics or chemistry are, or can be, completely secularized. But it would not seem practical to teach either practice or appreciation of the arts if we are to forbid exposure of youth to any religious influences. Music without sacred music, architecture minus the cathedral, or painting without the scriptural themes would be eccentric and incomplete, even from a secular point of view. &#8230;
 I should suppose it is a proper, if not an indispensable, part of preparation for a worldly life to know the roles that religion and religions have played in the tragic story of mankind. The fact is that, for good or for ill, nearly everything in our culture worth transmitting, everything which gives meaning to life, is saturated with religious influences, derived from paganism, Judaism, Christianity&#8211;both Catholic and Protestant&#8211;and other faiths accepted by a large part of the world&#8217;s peoples. One can hardly respect the system of education that would leave the student wholly ignorant of the currents of religious thought that move the world society for a part in which he is being prepared.
</blockquote>

Ten_Commandments_Monument

Clinton-Appointed Judge Blocks Texas Law Requiring Schools Display The Ten Commandments

Ten Commandments

Texas

Students across the country are getting ready to head back to school, and this year they’ll have the chance to take on a different kind of assignment: the first-ever Presidential AI Challenge. An outgrowth of an executive order signed by President Trump in April, the Challenge aims to inspire students, educators and community leaders to work together to ensure the next generation is ready to take on the unprecedented technological change we can expect in the near future. This goes beyond politics, and asks students to find ways to use artificial intelligence to respond to challenges in students’ local communities.
This initiative has arrived not a moment too soon. New developments in AI are announced almost daily – some promising, some disconcerting. The headlines show us every day that this world-changing technology will need governance and guardrails left firmly in qualified human hands. The Trump White House understands this, and is right to engage America’s youth. Who better to challenge our thinking on emerging tech than those who will be impacted the most?
If educators prioritize safe and ethical engagement with AI in the classroom, this could be one of the most consequential school years in decades. Generation Z is coming close to the end of their school years. Generation Alpha, in school behind them, may well be renamed by history as “Generation AI,” because they will be the first to come of age in a world with all the power of artificial intelligence at their fingertips. The sooner they start working through what that means, the better.
Different schools and communities will inspire students to meet the Presidential AI Challenge in different ways, but there are a few consistent elements that educators, community leaders, and the tech community should strive to instill in American youth so that they learn to engage with AI in responsible, ethical ways.
The first is to reconceptualize the idea of digital citizenship. It’s not just about being nice on social media anymore (although that remains important). But we must make sure students understand that AI is a tool to be used responsibly, and that being a good citizen extends to online communities. Understanding ethical standards is key, as is the constant reminder that technology should serve humanity, and not the other way around. As powerful as the technology will be, the students using it will have to remember that their human mind is still in charge.
If the human minds are to remain in charge, we will need to sharpen critical thinking skills at all educational levels. Switzerland and Sweden, for instance, have integrated these skills into all levels of their curriculum – even into continuing education in their workforce. Critical thinking will be the bedrock of ethical AI use. By fostering skills to question, analyze, and evaluate AI outputs, we empower learners to challenge assumptions and create AI systems that foster trust and respect. The use of AI as a crutch – like writing your term papers for you – is the exact opposite of this. It’s more than just lazy – it sets us back on doing the important work to keep this technology in check.
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To stop AI from replacing critical thinking, we should train students to use AI as a tool for exploration and curiosity: start with an idea in your own brain, then explore further with AI-generated insight that you never fully trust and always verify. Once outputs are created, there must always be a &#8220;human in the loop&#8221; by design, evaluating AI outputs and coming up with an original solution based on human judgment. Students can study, design, and ensure solutions reflect steps that allow humans to interject moral reasoning and human creativity.
The next generation will need to understand more than just how to interact with a chatbot in a safe, ethical, and helpful way. AI’s ripple effects will go beyond our screens, as the need for more physical data centers to power AI innovation increases. We must set an example by wrestling with policy questions, like energy access issues, in an empathetic, human-centered way. We don’t want power grids diverting power to data centers while hospitals can’t keep their machines on. AI must be used to uplift communities, as outlined in the Presidential AI Challenge.
We are poised to mark the 250th anniversary of America’s founding in a world abounding with technology that our founders could only dream of. But the same values that inspired them, a “decent respect” for freedom, human dignity, and individual rights, should guide us as we explore this uncharted technological territory. The upcoming school year, educators and students alike have a fascinating opportunity to engage with this technology in ways that align with our values.
* * *
Theresa Payton is the founder and CEO of Fortalice Solutions. She served as the White House Chief Information Officer under President George W. Bush, and co-founded the Major-Payton School of Business at Immaculata University.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

School boy in a computer lab.

AI Heads Back To School: Students Face A Challenge That Will Shape The Future

Artificial Intelligence

Computer

President Trump

Schools

Technology

Anxious Teenage Student Sitting Examination In School Hall

The Fake ‘Mental Health’ Test Coming To Your Child’s School

Big Pharma

Health Care

Illinois

Matt Walsh

Mental Health

Pfizer

The Loudoun County school board will no longer force staff to use students&#8217; preferred pronouns after teachers sued over the Northern Virginia school district&#8217;s transgender policy, a court ruled on Thursday.
In a free speech victory for several teachers who sued, the Loudoun County Circuit Court officially recognized that Loudoun County Public Schools no longer requires teachers to use pronouns inconsistent with students’ biological sex.
The court noted that &#8220;on its face, [the transgender policy] does not require teachers or other staff to use a pronoun to refer to a person that a teacher believes is inconsistent with the person’s sex. Instead, [the policy] permits staff to refrain from using any pronouns.”
The transgender <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/loudoun/Board.nsf/files/D7VLH356939A/$file/8040.pdf">policy</a>, which was adopted in 2021, allows &#8220;gender-expansive or transgender students&#8221; to choose their names and pronouns. Originally, officials stated that it required teachers to use them as well.
&#8220;Staff or students who intentionally and persistently refuse to respect a student’s gender identity by using the wrong name and gender pronoun are in violation of this policy,&#8221; the policy reads.
However, the Loudoun County school board backed down on requiring teachers to use pronouns after Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys <a href="https://adfmedia.org/case/vlaming-v-west-point-school-board/">won</a> a victory on the same issue for another high school teacher, Peter Vlaming, in a different Virginia school district.
Thursday&#8217;s court ruling affirms the school board&#8217;s new interpretation of its policy.
This is the second victory for Loudoun County teachers in this case.
In May 2021, physical education teacher Tanner Cross spoke at a school board meeting and expressed his concerns that the new transgender policy would violate teachers and parents&#8217; rights and be harmful to students.
A few days later, Cross was suspended by Leesburg Elementary School.
He <a href="https://adfmedia.org/case/cross-v-loudoun-county-school-board/">ultimately</a> got his job back when Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys sued on his behalf, and the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that his constitutional rights had likely been violated.
&#8220;Unfortunately, thereafter &#8230; the school board adopted [the transgender policy] without making any revisions or addressing any of the concerns that Tanner or the other parents and teachers addressed,&#8221; Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Daily Wire.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys added two more teachers to the lawsuit against the policy — Smart’s Mill Middle School English teacher Kim Wright and Loudoun County High School history teacher Monica Gill.
&#8220;Thankfully, now after several years of litigation, the school has agreed that its policy does not and cannot compel teachers to use pronouns that students request which are inconsistent with the student&#8217;s sex,&#8221; Langhofer said.
Gill, one of the plaintiffs celebrating Thursday&#8217;s ruling, has taught in Loudoun County for nearly 25 years.
&#8220;I treasure all my students, regardless of whether they identify as the opposite sex,&#8221; Gill said in a statement to The Daily Wire.
However, the transgender policy &#8220;threatened to make me ignore biological reality and lie to my students,&#8221; Gill said.
&#8220;This policy jeopardized the dignity of all students,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m pleased that the school district has now honored my constitutionally protected freedom to speak to my students in love and truth.&#8221;
Loudoun County has been a flash point in the national controversy over transgender ideology in schools, starting with The Daily Wire&#8217;s bombshell 2021 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/loudoun-county-schools-tried-to-conceal-sexual-assault-against-daughter-in-bathroom-father-says">investigation</a> into a father&#8217;s claim that the school district covered up the rape of his daughter by a male student in a skirt in the girls&#8217; school bathroom.
&#8220;For many, many years, Loudoun County, along with many other school boards across the country, have acted as if they control, that they&#8217;re ultimately responsible for the education of the children rather than parents,&#8221; attorney Langhofer said.
&#8220;They&#8217;ve also acted as if they get to control all of teachers&#8217; speech and that they can punish teachers for disagreeing with the school on really important topics such as human sexuality and gender identity,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;So this ruling is a great victory for teachers who don&#8217;t want to express messages that they think are untrue or are harmful to students and also don&#8217;t want to mislead parents about how their schools are treating the students at school,&#8221; the attorney said.

Trans Rights Protest At Downing Street As UK Government Blocks Scottish Parliament Law On Self Identification

EXCLUSIVE: Loudoun County Teachers Don’t Have To Use Trans Pronouns, Court Rules

EXCLUSIVE: Loudoun County Teachers Don't Have To Use Trans Pronouns After Lawsuit

Loudoun County

Virginia

Another day, another far-Left street protest.
It gets hard to keep up with the current “thing” as activists switch out causes like the average person changes underwear. Last month’s pro-Palestine protest is yesterday’s anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest is today’s pro-Iran protest.
But the issue is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.
Even more concerning is how K-12 schools have been infiltrated by organizations to serve as fertile recruiting and training grounds for the next generation of far-Left activists.
Leveraging (liberated) ethnic studies courses as an access point, these outside groups hide behind “history” and “culture” to advance their radical ideology and recruit students and staff into their ranks.
School districts, in order to comply with California’s Assembly Bill 101 (2021) which mandates that students in the class of 2029-30 complete one semester of ethnic studies, have been hiring far-Left organizations to assist in developing and implementing these course curriculums, as well as running professional development trainings and conferences for teachers.
For example, an early July <a href="https://www.xicanxinstitute.org/summer-2025">ethnic studies conference</a> in Arizona features a “Pre-Institute Field Day on the Border” which includes “visiting a desert surveillance tower with local organizers.” The participants will “examine how the same technologies are used against Palestinians.”
On May 13, 2025, Stockton Unified School District’s board <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/susd/Board.nsf/goto?open&amp;id=DFJRPV6F023F">approved</a> spending $28,000 to send ten ethnic studies educators to attend the institute.
One of the institute’s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/xitotucson/p/DKk82TWSPMe/">sessions</a>, titled “Education as a Front, A Weapon &amp; A Tool,” includes panelists such as the chair of the Association of Raza Educators (ARE) and co-founder of <a href="https://www.liberatedethnicstudies.org/guadalupe-carrasco-cardona.html">Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium</a> (LESMC), and the director of Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC).
According to the description on Instagram, the “panel of educators and organizers will share tactics on how we can join forces by highlighting their work in the streets and in the schools, and help us identify critical fronts for cross movement solidarity.”
Both ARE and AROC openly engage in far-Left street activism. ARE’s Instagram is filled with protest propaganda, including a February 23, 2023, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/raza_educators_la/reel/DGa7kIVvqKw/?api=Selesaikan+latihan+online+untuk+menghasilkan+uang%E3%80%90GB777.BET%E3%80%91.dprv&amp;hl=zh-cn">post</a> which shows members of ARE following ICE agents to their “home base.”
Additionally, AROC helped organize the blockade of the <a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/pro-palestine-protesters-shut-down-bay-bridge-during-apec-summit">Bay Bridge</a> in 2023, and <a href="https://www.araborganizing.org/page/port-of-oakland-shutdown/">boasts</a> about shutting down the Port of Oakland in 2024 in support of Palestine.
In 2023, San Francisco Unified School District <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/sfusd/Board.nsf/goto?open&amp;id=CU2NLP607BD5">approved</a> a four year agreement with AROC to provide “workshops in classrooms related to leadership development and cultural empowerment.” AROC is a <a href="https://www.tides.org/partner/arab-resource-organizing-center-aroc/">fiscal project</a> of the Tides Foundation.
Not only are teachers being trained to advance far-Left activism, but the ideology has been embedded in ethnic studies curriculums, including how students are graded.
On June 18, 2025, Carlsbad Unified School District’s board <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/cusd/Board.nsf/goto?open&amp;id=DH9QS96AAC48">approved</a> a year-long elective ethnic studies course which includes units on studying and engaging in activism. Grading rubrics included in the draft document reveal that students are assessed on how well they advocate for “justice in speech and perspective” and recognize “equity as essential.”
In other words, students are taught to identify oppression and injustice (critical consciousness) and to act on it (praxis).
<a href="https://www.newsmax.com/politics/critical-competency-consciousness/2023/12/07/id/1145144/">Critical consciousness</a>, a primary concept in ethnic studies, teaches students to view everything using an oppressor — oppressed binary lens. The goal is to get the youth to constantly seek out new social justice causes to which they can attach themselves.
For example, a 2023 Pajaro Valley Unified School District board <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/pvusd/Board.nsf/files/CSZQCT67A8B9/$file/June%2028%20(23)%20Board%20Slides_%20CRE%20(1).pdf">presentation</a> reveals how the district integrated into its “Ethnic Literature and Studies “ course an “Ethnic Studies Praxis Story Plot” that replaces a traditional plot diagram with one steeped in critical consciousness. Students are taught to read stories in a circular fashion, moving from exposing the problem and recognizing the oppressed and oppressor classes, to “resistance and revolution” and how to apply the lessons to their own social justice activism.
Instead of seeking out meaningful resolutions and solutions, these courses, such as in Carlsbad and Parajo Valley schools, create perpetual social justice activists who bounce from one cause to the next in an effort to tear down the “oppressive” system and foment “revolution.”
While far-Left ethnic studies consultants make millions in consulting fees to advance their anti-Western Civilization ideology in schools, they are simultaneously turning K-12 students into the next generation of campus and street revolutionaries.
As liberated ethnic studies expands its tentacles across the country, parents, board members, administrators, teachers, and policymakers must grapple with this destructive ideology masquerading as “culture” and “history.”
The metastasis of these far-Left recruiting and training programs in our K-12 schools must be stopped.
American families deserve schools that teach children to read, write, and do math at the highest of standards — not indoctrination into social justice activism.
* * *
Rhyen Staley is the Research Director for Defending Education. He holds a master&#8217;s degree in elementary education and has over a decade of classroom experience in both public and private schools. He has over 25 years of volleyball coaching experience from Women’s Division I down to junior high.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-DEMONSTRATION-GOVERNMENT

The Revolution Will Be Graded: How Radical Activists Infiltrate K–12 Education

Democrats

K-12

Protests

Teachers

It’s no secret that history’s oldest prejudice is on the rise in the Big Apple. In 2024, the NYPD <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-nyc-jews-targeted-in-hate-crimes-more-than-all-other-groups-combined-in-2024/">recorded</a> an antisemitic attack every 25 hours. All in all, there were 345 antisemitic hate crimes, which constituted roughly 54% of all hate crimes reported in the city.
When it comes to combating these trends, the city’s Department of Education (DOE) has been missing in action. Parents, teachers, and students have repeatedly complained that the city’s public schools have done <a href="https://mjhnyc.org/press/jewish-advocates-demand-policy-changes-to-combat-antisemitism-at-nyc-public-high-schools/">very little</a> to address antisemitic incidents on their campuses.
Moreover, antisemitic propaganda — including an article from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan declaring that “Jewish behavior has ill-affected Black people and others” — has <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/31/us-news/nyc-teachers-getting-anti-israel-literature-in-doe-schools/">dripped</a> into school newsletters, materials, and mass emails at least five times over the past couple of months.
However, the DOE won’t sit on the sidelines for much longer. Its latest initiative? A new Jewish addition to the existing Hidden Voices social studies curriculum, which <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/06/16/natalia-mehlman-petrzela-discusses-jewish-america-history-fighting-antisemitism-in-hidden-voices-curriculum/">focuses</a> on “centering diverse historical figures left out of typical textbooks.” In this case, that includes profiles of Jewish figures like WNBA player Nancy Lieberman and sex-positive therapist and talk-show host Ruth Westheimer. These profiles are intended to provide role models for Jewish students and introduce others to Jews’ contributions to society.
But don’t be fooled. This isn’t a serious attempt to battle antisemitism in New York City. It’s just a shallow gesture that lumps Jews into the very DEI bubble that helped create this problem to begin with. While Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives are often well-intentioned, this won’t protect the city’s Jews, it’ll just paint a bigger target on their backs.
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, the historian behind NYC Public Schools&#8217; &#8220;Hidden Voices&#8221; social studies curriculum made it clear that her &#8220;Jewish American&#8221; history segment is an identity-based curriculum — she <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/06/16/natalia-mehlman-petrzela-discusses-jewish-america-history-fighting-antisemitism-in-hidden-voices-curriculum/">told</a> Chalkbeat New York that &#8220;these materials push educators and students to think about who identity-based curricula are for,&#8221; and that she hopes the program &#8220;invigorates [students] to commit to a pluralism and universalism that I personally think is the beating heart of a healthy community.&#8221;
Simply put, Petrzela argues that by lumping Jews — who she calls a “tiny minority” — in with other DEI groups, we can all learn more about each other.
Yet Petrzela’s approach ignores DEI’s fatal flaw. Most DEI programs <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pedagogy-Oppressed-Anniversary-Paulo-Freire/dp/0826412769">root their philosophy</a> in an oppressor vs oppressed binary, where the oppressed can do no wrong and the oppressors should be treated with contempt. This binary is especially dangerous for Jews because they rose from poverty and persecution around the world to become one of the most successful and enduring subgroups in the United States. Therefore, many DEI advocates, whether they know it or not, <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/the-dei-complex-will-never-protect-jews">relegate</a> Jews into the “oppressor” category.
New York City’s schools are no exception — after all, state-level officials are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/04/06/new-york-schools-dei-trump/">refusing to part</a> with DEI, and the district’s <a href="https://www.studentpathways.nyc/">Office of Student Pathways</a>, which infamously sent a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=office+of+student+pathways+nyc+jews&amp;sca_esv=ccb8066356fd07b7&amp;sxsrf=AE3TifOxZmNlWkSUmgiFYTMS0tj3sFta0A%3A1750776477842&amp;ei=nbpaaLyZM5yOur8PsPTkyQk&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj826vQpoqOAxUch-4BHTA6OZkQ4dUDCBA&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=office+of+student+pathways+nyc+jews&amp;gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiI29mZmljZSBvZiBzdHVkZW50IHBhdGh3YXlzIG55YyBqZXdzSOgIUJwDWJcIcAF4AJABAJgBnwGgAc4DqgEDNC4xuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIEoALRAsICChAAGLADGNYEGEfCAgsQABiABBiRAhiKBcICBhAAGBYYHsICCBAAGIAEGKIEwgIIEAAYogQYiQXCAgUQIRigAZgDAIgGAZAGCJIHAzMuMaAH_Q-yBwMyLjG4B88CwgcDMi4yyAcD&amp;sclient=gws-wiz-serp#:~:text=NYC%20public%20schools,news%20%E2%80%BA%20nyc%2Dpubli...">newsletter</a> decrying the “genocide” in Gaza back in April, often uses DEI rhetoric. 
These ideas cannot form the foundation of an effective &#8220;anti-antisemitism&#8221; plan. Institutions that hate Jews cannot teach people not to hate Jews.
The bigger problem? Even if the DEI apparatus were willing to give Jews a fair shake, this approach still wouldn’t be successful. Evidence <a href="https://aristotlefoundation.org/reality-check/what-dei-research-concludes-about-diversity-training-it-is-divisive-counter-productive-and-unnecessary/">suggests</a> that DEI training fails to stop bigotry or intolerance. Instead, “when people attempt to suppress unwanted thoughts, these thoughts are likely to subsequently reappear with even greater insistence than if they had never been suppressed.” In other words, if applied here, DEI won’t serve to educate antisemitism away — it could make the problem even worse.
Unfortunately, the problem exists regardless of the quality of the educational materials. Research <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/kisida-bowen-can-we-educate-hate-away-new-study-of-students-holocaust-education-shows-its-possible-but-only-if-conditions-are-right/">indicates</a> that even when students have access to high-quality educational materials — like first-person accounts of the Holocaust — they don’t always become more tolerant of other people and cultures. In an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MFDZAWYKHJGI8EWQPY4N/full?target=10.1080/19345747.2019.1652712">experiment</a> involving the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Houston, some students left slightly less tolerant than when they came in.
If New York City continues on its current path, it may create the very thing it aims to destroy. Fighting antisemitism will require more than teaching children about Jews. It will require a school culture that shows zero tolerance for hatred based on religion, ethnicity, or any other immutable category — that means vigorous policing of social media apps within schools and effective discipline for students who engage in antisemitic activity.
What it should not include is DEI. Identity politics cannot and will not end the antisemitic wave in New York’s schools and streets.
* * *
Garion Frankel is a native of the New York metropolitan area and a Ph.D student in PK-12 educational leadership at Texas A&amp;M University. He is a Young Voices Middle East History and Peace Fellow, and his articles can be found in outlets like Newsweek, USA Today, and the Houston Chronicle.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

New York City Students Head Back To Class For First Day Of School

NYC Public Schools Think DEI Can Fix Antisemitism. It Won’t.

Anti-Semitism

Jewish

New York City

When my school district was forcing children to attend LGBTQ storybook lessons, I banded together with like-minded moms, and we sued the school district. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
And we won.
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor has been championed by every common-sense American who, like the Justices in their 6-3 majority opinion, understands that a massive government overreach had violated the religious liberties of families in Montgomery County Public Schools.
The parent plaintiffs, including myself, simply wanted to be able to receive notice and have the ability to opt our children out of the “LGBTQ inclusive” teachings in English class that conflict with our religious beliefs, and we were vindicated. Through the court proceedings, the entire country witnessed the spectacle that had become the one-sided, celebratory introduction of sensitive topics into the education of our young ones.
But how did we arrive at a place where the nation’s high court needed to weigh in on whether our four-year-olds should be required to read about lace, leather, underwear, and drag queens under the guise of “inclusion”? The answer is simple: an erosion of parental rights, contempt for religious beliefs, and a leftist agenda aiming to redefine childhood education into “what to think,” not “how to think”.
Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion, while addressing the larger legal issues, also highlighted the importance of parent advocacy and involvement at the most local level of government to help course correct the significant declines in public education. Whether he was aware of it or not, the public school board testimony he included was that of the then-chair of the Moms for Liberty Montgomery County Chapter.
“Some parents showed up at the Board’s public business meetings to express their concerns about the storybooks’ content,” Alito wrote. “In an early 2023 meeting, for example, one parent represented herself as ‘a voice for parents in [her] community, many of [whom] are actually working today and unable to attend.”
“She said that MCPS parents were ‘frustrated’ because, in their view, ‘educators and administrators are going behind what [parents] are teaching their kids at home, and pushing ideas of gender ideology on their kids’ … The parent felt that the Board was ‘implying to [children] that their religion, their belief system, and their family tradition is actually wrong.’”
When the opt-out was eliminated in the spring of 2023, nearly 70 parents spoke out at school board meetings, passionately advocating for their right to exempt their children from these controversial lessons. Hundreds — if not thousands — of emails flooded the Board of Education inboxes, and rallies drew more than a thousand attendees. While there was overwhelming support for reinstating the opt-out from a diverse coalition of families, several Montgomery County government officials, along with their allies, specifically vilified Moms for Liberty.
Every day, suburban moms like me were blamed by the Montgomery County Council’s Anti-Hate Task Force for “galvanizing the community” with our case. We were accused of “utilizing hate speech and unfortunate religious bias to spread disinformation about the books being introduced into our schools.” According to them, we were apparently so effective that we somehow convinced minority communities, Muslims and Ethiopians among them, to “latch onto this issue because they’ve not had a voice before.”
They can’t be serious, can they?
Some in the faux-tolerant progressive left can’t seem to grasp why a motley crew of religious parents — many of whom are immigrants — would band together and fight tirelessly on this issue. Again, the answer is simple: In America, it’s unconstitutional for a government institution to force its beliefs on others, especially on other people’s children.
Thanks to Friday’s landmark Supreme Court decision, every parent now enjoys the renewed right and responsibility to direct the upbringing of their children — and that doesn’t stop at the classroom door.
As we move forward, I hope that this case will serve as a catalyst for continued efforts to empower parents, protect their rights, and ensure that every child’s education is shaped by the values of their family, not a one-size-fits-all government mandate.
Rosalind Hanson is the Montgomery County Chair of Moms for Liberty
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Parental Rights Regarding LGBTQ Books In Schools

I’m One Of The Moms Who Just Won At The Supreme Court. Here’s Why We Fought.

Parents rights

Supreme Court

As a mother, advocate, and candidate for the Alabama State School Board, I’ve seen firsthand how the quiet march of artificial intelligence (AI) into our public school classrooms is happening with little public awareness and even less parental consent. While the tech industry touts AI as the future of education, the reality is far more complicated — and in many ways, far more dangerous.
This is not a debate about whether technology belongs in schools. It’s a call to pause, evaluate, and protect children before we hand over their data, emotions, and daily experiences to unregulated machines.
Across the country, AI tools are already embedded in software used in classrooms — often installed by default on school-issued devices without informing parents. These tools don’t just support learning; they track facial expressions, predict emotional states, and collect vast amounts of personal information. When I raised concerns in my local district, even administrators admitted they didn’t know the apps even existed on the machines.
It gets worse. Some AI systems store data on third-party servers, outside the reach of school district oversight. Parents rarely have access to this data, don’t know who can see it, and can’t opt out. In many cases, children are being profiled and emotionally analyzed without ever giving meaningful consent.
And this is happening to minors. Children who legally cannot open a bank account or create a social media profile without parental consent are being subjected to predictive algorithms inside the classroom.
Advocates of classroom AI say it improves safety by detecting potential threats. In tech-heavy communities like Huntsville, Alabama, some districts have adopted facial recognition and behavioral analytics to monitor students. But these programs raise urgent questions: What happens when a system flags a student incorrectly? What emotional harm comes from constant surveillance? And what precedent does this set for future generations?
We are raising children in what author Jonathan Haidt calls The Anxious Generation — a generation already plagued by rising anxiety, isolation, and digital dependence. Normalizing AI surveillance in their learning environments only exacerbates these problems. It teaches kids to perform for machines rather than relate to people. It chips away at trust between students and teachers, families and schools.
The good news? People are starting to take action.
First Lady Melania Trump has championed child protections in the digital age. She recently celebrated the signing of the Take It Down Act, legislation backed by the Trump administration to remove explicit AI-generated content involving minors from the internet. This is a critical step in the right direction.
But classroom AI poses a broader risk. We need transparency, oversight, and parental rights built into the law. I’m advocating for a model policy that any state can adopt:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A ban on emotion-detecting and behavior-predicting AI systems in schools</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Mandatory parental opt-in before AI tools can be used on students</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Transparency requirements for all EdTech vendors</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Annual AI ethics and data privacy training for school staff</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A statewide or state-level task force to assess AI impact, report findings, and recommend guardrails</li>
</ul>
Local school boards don’t need to wait for Washington or their state capitol. They can start now:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Audit every digital tool currently in use</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Inform parents</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Pause new AI adoption until clear guardrails are in place</li>
</ul>
We must ask ourselves: Are we solving real problems with AI in classrooms, or creating new ones we don’t yet understand?
This isn’t anti-technology. It’s pro-accountability. Pro-parent. Pro-child.
Whether you live in Alabama, California, or anywhere in between, your school district likely has AI embedded in ways you never imagined. It’s time to demand transparency, ask hard questions, and ensure that no child becomes a test subject for Big Tech.
Let’s make this a national conversation. Let’s protect the classroom.
* * *
Emily Jones, a North Alabama native and founder of the state’s first Moms for Liberty chapter, is running for the Alabama State School Board to restore excellence to a system in decline. Like many parents, COVID-era schooling opened her eyes to just how far our public education system has fallen—from slipping academic standards to a breakdown in trust between families and schools. With Alabama ranking 45th in the nation, we must ask: what are we doing to stop the slide? Emily is committed to rebuilding the vital partnership between parents and teachers and restoring classrooms as places where educators are empowered to teach and students are expected to thrive. It’s time to raise the bar for Alabama’s children.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Science and education concept. AI (Artificial Intelligence).

We Need Parental Consent For AI In The Classroom

High School

Parental Rights in Education

Parenting

school district

With Governor Kelly Ayotte’s signature on Tuesday, New Hampshire became the first state in the Northeast and the 17th state in the nation to enact universal school choice. New Hampshire joins Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming in empowering all parents statewide with a portion of their children’s education funding to select the K-12 education avenue of their choice.
Previously, New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account program, which began in 2021, was restricted to only families meeting a certain household income threshold. However, during this legislative session, the state House and the Senate took up separate bills to make all students eligible for the program. On March 13, <a href="https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/legacy/bs2016/billText.aspx?sy=2025&amp;id=67&amp;txtFormat=html">House Bill 115</a> passed the House by a vote of <a href="https://legiscan.com/NH/bill/HB115/2025">198-180</a>, and <a href="https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/legacy/bs2016/billText.aspx?sy=2025&amp;id=965&amp;txtFormat=html">Senate Bill 295</a> passed the Senate by a vote of <a href="https://legiscan.com/NH/votes/SB295/2025">16-8</a>.
After several more legislative steps, including moving through the House and Senate Finance Committees and adoption into the state’s budget, Senate Bill 295 successfully passed out of the legislature on June 5.
There was great confidence that Gov. Ayotte would deliver by signing the bill into law. In her Inaugural Address in January, she <a href="https://www.governor.nh.gov/news/governor-kelly-ayottes-inaugural-address">stated</a>: “As a mother, I understand that every child learns differently and that we should give each child the opportunity to be in the education setting that allows them to reach his or her full potential.”
The governor <a href="https://www.governor.nh.gov/news/governor-kelly-ayottes-inaugural-address">continued</a>: “Public Schools are critical, and I am the proud product of Nashua’s public schools, but they are not working for every child. I applaud the work the legislature has done to expand opportunities for families through education freedom accounts and look forward to strengthening and expanding this program to ensure more families have the freedom to put their children in the learning environment that is best for them.”
The Education Freedom Account funds can be used for private school tuition, tutoring, career and technical education, homeschooling curriculum, and other educational expenses. While the eligibility becomes universal, students from low-income households, students with disabilities, and students and their siblings currently enrolled in the Education Freedom Account program are prioritized.
For the current school year, approximately <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/education-freedom-account-program/">5,600</a> students participated, with an average award of <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/education-freedom-account-program/">$5,100 per student</a>. This is a mere fraction of the <a href="https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-documents/sonh/cost-per-pupil-fy2024-excluding-newfound.pdf">$26,320</a> that is spent to educate a public school student each year in New Hampshire.
While the funding is significantly less, there is greater accountability for how Education Freedom Account (EFA) funds are used. New Hampshire <a href="https://www.nhhousegop.com/press-releases/republicans-make-the-wildly-successful-education-freedom-accounts-universal/">State Representative Valerie McDonnell (R-Salem)</a> explains, “Every single EFA dollar is audited and publicly available. While local school budgets continue to grow and grow, the EFA program has saved the taxpayers over $266 million in the last five years. Expanding EFAs means more educational opportunities, greater accountability, and stronger outcomes for students.”
According to <a href="https://nhjournal.com/bedrick-finally-fulfilling-the-promise-of-public-education/?mkt_tok=ODI0LU1IVC0zMDQAAAGa32t7I1dLF9OyZxlQsR4nlr3M0SnLmTqfsUK6Kp4YjIQ80fxyO5a4NtQ3VQo18r-FkHASXhC1lfqaA_NBTKI-8Rc-VWzPF4rj7Up6HibL-vTwFV8-Dw">Jason Bedrick</a>, New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account program “cost about $27 million last year, which is only about 0.7% of the nearly $4 billion spent on New Hampshire’s public schools.”
A new study from the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy <a href="https://jbartlett.org/2025/06/per-pupil-spending-in-nh-nearly-doubles-from-2001-2024-as-district-public-schools-spend-1-25-billion-more-on-54000-fewer-students/">found</a> that New Hampshire public school spending increased $1.25 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars between 2001 and 2024. That’s a staggering 45% despite student enrollment decreasing 26% over the same time period. The increase in spending, combined with the sharp decline in enrollment, resulted in a 96% increase in inflation-adjusted spending.
The nearly doubling of spending did not have a positive impact on student learning. Instead, student learning fell significantly. Student achievement results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam scores for reading and math <a href="https://jbartlett.org/2025/06/per-pupil-spending-in-nh-nearly-doubles-from-2001-2024-as-district-public-schools-spend-1-25-billion-more-on-54000-fewer-students/">dropped by 21 points</a>. New Hampshire’s student decline was three times that of the national average 7-point score decrease.
The lack of return on investment in the astronomically expensive and inefficient public school monopoly adds to the numerous compelling reasons to empower parents with school choice for their children.
While unfathomable just a few years ago, historic education freedom is becoming a reality, state by state and with great speed. New Hampshire is the sixth state in 2025 to enact universal school choice.
The template has been set for the remaining 33 states yet to grant all parents school choice for the thirteen most formative years of their children’s lives. Which state will be next?
* * *
<a href="https://www.discovery.org/p/ingraham/">Dr. Keri D. Ingraham</a> is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Director of the American Center for Transforming Education, and a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Group of school school kids running as they leave the school building

‘Live Free Or Die’ State Becomes First Universal School Choice State In The Northeast

Kelly Ayotte

New Hampshire

School Choice

Years ago, my husband and I were on a family trip in the Bahamas, staying at the Atlantis resort. One afternoon, we wandered through their underground aquarium caves, marveling at the marine life. A little girl stood transfixed by a tank of moray eels, their jagged teeth gleaming ominously. Her mother shuddered, remarking, “Those are scary, aren’t they?” Undeterred, the girl darted to the next exhibit — a tank of barracudas — and exclaimed, “There’s something more awful than that, Mummy!”
Her innocent quest for the next frightful spectacle stuck with me, and lately, it’s become a metaphor for the conservative movement’s obsession with outrage.
On platforms like X, I see a similar pattern unfolding daily. A post about a classroom poster in Wisconsin — declaring, “If your parents aren’t accepting of your identity, I’m your mom now,” with rainbow flags and cartoon bears — ignites a firestorm. Commenters pile on, each trying to outdo the last: “This is grooming!” “It’s a cult!” “Wait until you hear about what’s happening in another district!”
The refrain echoes that little girl’s cry: There’s something more awful than that. We’re trapped in an outrage cycle, endlessly seeking the next shocking story about what’s happening to our kids, from controversial school policies to perceived overreaches by educators. But this one-upmanship isn’t moving us forward — it’s keeping us stuck.
The conservative movement has mastered the art of highlighting what’s wrong, and that awareness is crucial. Parents need to know when their rights are being undermined, whether by schools, government policies, or cultural shifts. But awareness alone isn’t enough. We can’t keep pointing to the next “awful” thing without channeling that energy into action.
Outrage may grab attention, but it’s the steps we take afterward that create change. It’s time to shift our focus from amplifying the problem to building solutions — and that’s exactly what we’re doing at the Heritage Foundation.
I’m thrilled to lead the newly launched Parental Rights Network at Heritage, and I’m joined by Pat Blackburn, a passionate advocate who brings invaluable experience to this fight. Together, we’re taking the lessons we learned from our time at Moms for Liberty — where we saw the power of grassroots organizing and the hunger parents have to protect their role in their children’s lives — and using them to create real momentum in the parental rights and family empowerment movement.
The Parental Rights Network is designed to foster collaboration and create momentum by connecting individuals and groups across the country. Anyone can join the Network through a link on our landing page, opening the door to a community dedicated to strengthening parental rights.
Our mission is clear: we want to move beyond the outrage cycle and toward tangible outcomes. That means equipping parents with the tools to advocate for their rights, connecting them with like-minded communities, and pushing for policies that prioritize parental authority over government overreach.
To make this happen, we’re hosting weekly calls where members can share resources, tools, and information, and connect with others across the country to build a stronger, unified movement. We’ll also send out a weekly newsletter recapping key updates, insights, and opportunities to stay engaged. Instead of just sharing the next alarming story, we’re encouraging parents to take action — attend a school board meeting, engage with local lawmakers, or join forces with other families to demand transparency and accountability in every aspect when it comes to their kids.
The Network isn’t just about pointing out what’s wrong. It’s about building a coalition that can right those wrongs.
The conservative movement has a choice. We can keep chasing “something more awful than that,” letting outrage define our response, or we can harness that energy to create a future where parents are empowered and respected as the primary decision-makers for their children. At the Parental Rights Network, we’re choosing the latter. Join us by signing up through our landing page, participating in our weekly calls, and staying informed with our newsletter.
Together, we can move from outrage to action — because our kids deserve more than a cycle of anger; they deserve a movement that delivers real change.
* * *
Tiffany Justice is the chair of the Parental Rights Initiative at the Heritage Foundation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Correction: A previous subheading to this article read &#8220;Moms for Liberty joins forces with The Heritage Foundation to create real momentum for parental rights.&#8221; Moms for Liberty, however, is not working directly with the Heritage Foundation. We regret the error.

Schoolgirl runs from school bus to hug mother

Beyond Outrage: A Call To Action For Conservative Parents

Children

Heritage Foundation

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