Education Under Siege: How Politics is Shaping American History in the Classroom

As the Trump era continues, education has become a battleground where the very fabric of American history and civics is being rewritten. Major curriculum publishers have withdrawn products from the market, and teachers are increasingly hesitant to teach certain topics, fearing backlash and criticism. California, once a leader in promoting ethnic studies, has walked back its efforts to require high school students to take classes in the subject, while the Anti-Defamation League has removed dozens of lesson plans from its website, including those on transgender identity, police violence against Black men, and voting rights.

Key Takeaways:

• Over 20 states have passed laws restricting classroom discussions on race, gender, and American history, creating a culture of fear among teachers to avoid controversial topics.
• Major curriculum publishers have withdrawn products from the market, citing financial reasons, but acknowledging that recent pressures to eliminate curricula that consider race, gender, colonialism, etc. have weakened the market.
• The Anti-Defamation League has removed dozens of lesson plans from its website, including those on transgender identity, police violence against Black men, and voting rights, while continuing to offer resources on antisemitism, the Holocaust, and Jewish identity.
• California, once a leader in promoting ethnic studies, has walked back its efforts to require high school students to take classes in the subject, and signed laws establishing a state office to handle complaints and require teachers to abstain from "advocacy, opinion, bias or partisanship" in the classroom.
• Teachers are shying away from teaching basic constitutional principles, out of concern that classroom discussions will be overtaken by contemporary politics, and are using social media to circulate lesson plans that they relied on for years.
• iCivics, a group that provides free, nonpartisan curriculum materials, has noted a significant decline - up to 28 percent - in the number of page views recorded for some popular lessons, including those dealing with separation of powers, consent of the governed and other constitutional principles.
• The organization offers training in how to teach students about American government without walking into political minefields, but teachers often receive much less training from their school districts than teachers of English and math, the subjects covered by state tests.
• This shift in education has set off alarms among free speech advocates, who fear that the Trump administration's push to punish speech it dislikes and to impose its patriotic vision of American history on schools will undermine academic freedom and chill speech.

Statistics:

• Over 20 states have passed laws restricting classroom discussions on race, gender, and American history.
• More than 50% of social studies teachers reported modifying their curriculums or classroom discussions due to political pressure.
• iCivics has seen a 28% decline in page views for popular lessons on constitutional principles.
• The Anti-Defamation League has removed dozens of lesson plans from its website.
• California has walked back its efforts to require high school students to take ethnic studies classes.

Sources:

• The New York Times
• Brown University
• Anti-Defamation League
• iCivics
• California State Board of Education