After six months of government groveling, the Department of Education (ED) is being brought back! But not to provide funding or conduct important research because why would the government do that?
Instead, they are creating a newer and more “patriotic” curriculum to be implemented in public high schools across the country created in partnership with 40 conservative groups. In the midst of this Republican frenzy, one thing is clear: the Department of Education is setting a nationwide standard for destroying youth autonomy and critical thinking, killing values that have become standard in the United States Public School System (USPSS).
Developing independent thinking is crucial to adult life, especially considering high school students are, at most, four years away from voting. Humans aren’t born with political beliefs, which is exactly what Laura Wray-Lake, a social welfare professor at UCLA, explained in a 2019 study. She found that children adapted their views from trusted sources, including parents, and during their teen years, teachers and extracurriculars.
This knowledge is exactly what makes the implementation of Pro-Republican programs dangerous.
The goal of the 40 organizations involved in this curriculum is to construct a conservative fanbase and establish autocratic Republican control in the US. The Heritage Foundation hopes to “promote conservative public policies” and actively defends Christian nationalism in articles such as “The Dog Whistle of ‘Christian Nationalism.’” In no way is an organization that defends the infusion of religion and blatant partisanship in government going to create an unbiased program for our schools.
In fact, this curriculum places focus on documents like the 10 Commandments and “the role of faith in patriotism,” which instruct followers on how to please God and connect Christianity with belief in government. These teachings will have a disproportionate impact on the political opinions of youth, forcing partisan political views on brains that aren’t developed enough to understand what is being thrust upon them, harming youth independence and ability to develop critical thinking skills.
And somehow this isn’t the only issue, because the ED is simultaneously disobeying the constitutional law on which the function of the USPSS relies.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” is a direct excerpt from the First Amendment of the Constitution. Yet, instead of abiding by the law, the ED is choosing to push particular values upon students, which is exactly what these Christian nationalist organizations are fighting.
The reason these ideological concepts affect children is simple: they isolate children who are not Christian. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, only 63% of American teens identify as Christian in the first place. Thus, teaching a religiously biased agenda in public schools creates a division between children who are actively being told that they aren’t patriotic if they don’t believe in Jesus.
Taking away developmental opportunities from children and turning constitutional law into suggestions is wrong, and it’s only one of the many symptoms of an administration that has become a threat to the happiness, health, and basic intelligence of children in America. This fight is no longer about policy; it must protect the basic values of the education system.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Nov. 6, 2025
