Last week, “The Wall of Separation” reported that President-Elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Linda McMahon as U.S. secretary of education will likely spark a push for private school vouchers.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only church-state issue that will probably surface if McMahon’s tenure comes to pass. Trump has already issued a list of education priorities that includes “bringing back prayer to our schools” (someone needs to tell him students already have the freedom to pray in public schools), and, thanks to McMahon’s views, other “culture war” issues could surface.
As The New York Times reported, McMahon “played an influential role in laying the groundwork for a second Trump presidency as the chairwoman of the America First Policy Institute, a conservative policy group. It has offered training for prospective leaders, outlined staffing plans and drafted policy agendas for every federal agency, rivaling the similar Project 2025 effort led by the conservative Heritage Foundation.”
One of the goals of the America First Policy Institute, The Times reported, is to prevent public schools from “‘promoting inaccurate and unpatriotic concepts’ about American history surrounding institutionalized racism…”
This goes back to another topic we commented on last week: The Christian Nationalist goal of promoting “happy history.” In this warped view, the United States, founded by and for fundamentalist white Christians, never did anything wrong. It whitewashes the genocide of the Native population, the horrors of slavery, the subjugation of women, etc.
Late in Trump’s first term, he formed a 1776 Commission, in part to oppose the 1619 Project, an approach to history that put increased emphasis on how slavery and racism shaped the nation. Mainstream historians spurned the commission, whose main product was a 41-page, unfootnoted report that was littered with right-wing talking points (including the absurd claim that America’s government was never intended to be secular). The commission was swiftly disbanded by President Joe Biden, but under Trump, a version of it could resurface.
Other public school issues, such as the rights of LGBTQ+ students, book censorship, “Bible-based” curriculum and what we teach in science class, which have percolating at the local level and in some states, could easily become nationalized under Trump and McMahon. After all, Christian Nationalists often claim to be in favor of local control of education – until a state or local jurisdiction does something they don’t like. Then it’s time for a federal crackdown.
This approach does more than simply pander to Christian Nationalists; it does real damage. It spawns chaos and spurs a never-ending stream of divisive “culture wars” – much to the detriment of the 90% of America’s children who rely on our public education system.
