Yesterday, I posted about the threat to higher education spearheaded by a Florida organization that proposes to redefine education as job training and to defund college courses that don’t promise graduates good salaries.
The fact that the sponsoring organization is located in Florida shouldn’t surprise us: under DeSantis, that state is leading the way when it comes to MAGA’s war on education. He has already destroyed New College, which offended him by being “woke.”
As one observer recently wrote, DeSantis’ goal was to convert a liberal institution into a conservative one by using government money and purges. But by 2023, one third of its faculty had departed for jobs elsewhere, students were unable to find classes, and those with housing contracts were living in an airport hotel.
Today, New College spends more per student than any other institution of higher education in Florida–but the “return on investment” that so fascinates the Right has failed to materialize. The school has dropped 60 spots in the US News & World Report rankings, and its administration is currently trying to turn things around by–wait for it–recruiting student athletes and eliminating all-gender bathrooms. (In all fairness, maybe it will work. Indiana University’s winning football team has succeeding in diverting attention from the widely-criticised performance of IU’s president.)
Efforts to replace education with indoctrination aren’t limited to Florida. An article in Talking Points Memo notes that, when it comes to waging war on education, Trump appears to have taken yet another a page from the Confederacy.
In the early twentieth century, devotees of the ahistoric Lost Cause (it was all about state’s rights, not slavery) like the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) used their considerable political influence to revise history curricula. As the article reports, “For the next several decades, nearly 70 million Southern students were taught that the enslaved were actually servants and that the Confederates fought merely to preserve a Southern way of life.” The article traced the numerous efforts that commandeered state-level commissions and controlled the “history” taught to generations of students, particularly–but not exclusively– in the South.
Under President Donald Trump, this blueprint is being adapted and disseminated directly from the White House. The president in September announced the Department of Education’s partnership with dozens of conservative and far-right organizations including Turning Point USA, Moms for Liberty, and PragerU. The group will lead the Trump administration’s 250th anniversary civic education efforts “in schools across the nation.” Among the administration’s priorities? “Renewing patriotism,” and “advancing a shared understanding of America’s founding principles in schools across the nation.”…
Trump II is leaning heavily on the “again” part of his MAGA slogan by pushing policy that propels the nation backward. Experts told TPM that by partnering with right-wing groups, Trump and his allies are exercising control over the retelling of history in hopes of shaping the political opinions of the youngest Americans. With groups like TPUSA and the Heritage Foundation at the helm, the Trump administration threatens to propagandize public education for generations to come, and to revive the highly politicized, and ahistorical, curriculum campaigns of the early- and mid-20th centuries.
The linked article goes through the history of these (undeniably successful) efforts to distort history, and is very much worth reading in its entirety. It also highlights Trump’s partnership with PragerU, a conservative, anti-DEI media nonprofit, to produce “educational materials” about the Revolutionary War.
PragerU has published materials with false claims about slavery and racism, echoing the ethos of the UDC, in the name of “American values.” Like the UDC and other 20th century education activists, the group has been lobbying to get its materials in schools for years. Under Trump, the architects of the next decades of public (and charter and private) schooling appear to be right-wing groups like the PragerU, the Heritage Foundation, and Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point.
If that isn’t chilling enough, a glance through the administration’s wider efforts to control what Americans learn is instructive.
The administration’s numerous threats to museums and libraries are part of that war. At the end of December, The New York Times reported the destruction of NASA’s largest research library, described as “a facility that houses tens of thousands of books, documents and journals — many of them not digitized or available anywhere else.” According to a NASA spokesman, while some materials would be stored in a government warehouse, the rest would simply be tossed away. That library’s closure followed the shutdown of seven other NASA libraries around the country since 2022, including three this year.
I think it was Santayana who warned that those who are ignorant of the past are doomed to repeat it…
“Efforts to replace education with indoctrination aren’t limited to Florida. An article in Talking Points Memo notes that, when it comes to waging war on education, Trump appears to have taken yet another a page from the Confederacy.”
Remember it was against the law to teach or allow slaves to be taught to read; making them easier to control. In less than one year Trump has brought this nation barely outside the limitations of those “shit-hole” countries he refused to aid after disasters and he is supporting the disasters on our streets today. This beginning of his year two of term two already has Americans suffering loss of income, food priced out of most income levels, health care options gone or priced out of reach and we face the possibility of being denied the right to vote. He has warned us he may end the mid-term elections altogether to keep his “promise” that if we elected him in 2024 we would never have to vote for a president again. With full control turned over to him by MAGA Congress and total immunity provided by his Catholic SCOTUS majority before he takes any action or makes any decision…this may well be our future. Turning our own military against us prevents physical self-protection no matter where we are; the 48 contiguous United States of America is fast becoming one large concentration camp.
Well, Trump’s ignorance goes well beyond our past, that’s for sure. He actually added his name to a Kennedy Memorial. You know, his brand really sells. LOL
I am sure the governors of Southern states appreciate Sleepy Don’s attempts to paint them in a favorable light, but how will that work if kids these days have access to AI and the internet? Will the CIA be scrubbing all the data loaded on Wikipedia? Not to mention, if he closes down the Dept of Ed, how will he be able to demand anything from Blue state governors? LOL He’ll lose his leverage.
Did you know that NASA was led by Elon Musk’s mentor from the CIA’s venture capitalist firm? Why would the head of In-Q-Tel be chosen to run NASA? Maybe so he could bail out Musk several years ago when his companies were going bust. 😉
Talk about a public-private partnership.
So, now we have two versions of history being taught, determined by the political leaders. There was enough whitewashing of history before, and now it will be worse. Maybe PragerU will tell our young people that slavery in the US was an effort to help the poor Africans who were brought to America because they had no skills. LOL
These dumbasses forget that we are now living in the age of information. Any attempts to alter that fact or manipulate our history will be doomed.
p.s. Do you remember how our illustrious governor Mitch Daniels reacted to the death of Howard Zinn? Looking back, that was a sign of things to come in the US.
I have to comment on JoAnn’s post.
I don’t know who is spinning this for Trump, but there is an interesting theory out there that President Maduro was responsible for manipulating the 2020 election to ensure that Trump lost. Maduro stole the election! LOL
Maybe that is his ticket to freedom. He was brought here to exchange his and his wife’s freedom by lying that he controlled the Dominion voting machines. LOL
Todd, I had heard speculation that the Maduro extraction was a cleverly executed inside job for a power grab by now president Rodrigas and that the Trump administration was completely manipulated.
PragerU is an evil propaganda machine. They produce slick, easily watchable, videos that are completely believable unless you have a better than average grasp of history. Target high school whose grasp of history is a high school text books and you have something that’s completely poisonous.
Another day, another brick removed from the wall of democracy. Why isn’t EVERY Democrat doing what EVERY Republican would do if the roles were reversed? Why isn’t EVERY Democrat calling out EVERY Republican EVERY day for their transaction-based non-governance?
I know my rant is a little off subject today, BUT we are no longer doing “normal” politics in a healthy democracy. This is a bar fight to save that democracy and the Constitution. All bets are off for being “nice”. Let the CATO Institute and the Heritage Foundation start feeling some pain and wiping mud off their silk suits for a while.
If Trump, etc., indeed suspends or cancels the 2026 mid-term elections, look for open rebellion. We’re already at the point of Les Miserables here. Let the drums begin.
I did not know what Todd mentioned so I looked it up:
As Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels reacted to the death of historian Howard Zinn in a 2010 email to state education officials by writing: “This terrible anti-American academic has finally passed away”.
sorry – more complete this time:
As Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels reacted to the death of historian Howard Zinn in a 2010 email to state education officials by writing: “This terrible anti-American academic has finally passed away”.
In emails obtained in 2013, Daniels also described Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the United States, as “execrable, anti-factual piece of disinformation”. Daniels requested that officials confirm if the book was being used in Indiana classrooms and suggested ways to remove it. Learning the book was used at Indiana University, he questioned if the course should receive credit. These actions caused controversy and drew criticism from academics, including the American Historical Association. Daniels later clarified that his concerns were regarding K-12 curricula, not higher education, stating he would defend a tenured professor’s rights but not the “entitlement to have that work foisted on school children”.
Trump, and the rest of the right are soooooo afraid of truth and evidence, it is mind-blowing!
Orwell’s “1984” could easily be “2084,” or sooner, if these execrable manipulators get their way.
Living in Florididia, as I do, where one is “Free” to think just like our sick governor, is a bit of a challenge. Living in Indiana must be a bitch, as well.
“As Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels reacted to the death of historian Howard Zinn in a 2010 email to state education officials by writing: “This terrible anti-American academic has finally passed away”.
patmcc and Todd: projection on the part of Mitch Daniels as he forged his way through this state Legislature to get his unnecessary I-69 interstate completed after destroying beautiful areas of Southern Indiana, taking years to complete the job. All the while he was appointing Board Members to Purdue University and reaped his Gubernatorial retirement benefit by being, in turn, appointed to the vaulted position of President of Purdue University.
How low did he go to reach this high and who above state level was backing his moves?
Senator Toad Young of Indiana took a baby step towards rehabilitating his credibility by endorsing a proposal to limit Trump’s war powers, and then fell flat on his face by voting against it yesterday. That camouflage on his face isn’t really a beard; it’s the horse s*** he fell into yesterday!!
At the National Education Policy Center, Ohioan Jan Ressenger who has an education blog, reviewed Derek Black’s new book, Dangerous Education. Ressenger quotes Black, “public schools are the only place in society premised with bridging the gaps that divide us- race, wealth, religion, disability, sex, culture and more.”
IMO, the funders of Prager U want to eliminate a bridge that shores up democracy.
The primary Prager funders and management listed by media, IMO, desire authoritarian-enforced economic libertarianism. The voter segment isn’t large enough to elect a president.
Catholic Culture, 14 years ago, during an election year, posted, “Demand action-not just rhetoric-on school choice.” Pew research in 2025 showed one in 5 of Trump’s votes in 2024 were Catholic.
How history changes in the telling-
A few months ago, an internet search about the first Black US priest, identified Charles Uncles who faced substantial racial discrimination. Uncles was ordained in the US.
An internet search today, identifies Augustus Tolton as the first. He was an American ordained in Rome. His story as told may make for a preferred narrative?
PR is undervalued, it’s worth every penny.