There can be no better illustration of the bankruptcy of the Republican education establishment than yesterday’s Wall Street Journal opinion piece endorsing the “Educating for American Democracy” (EAD) initiative, signed by six former U.S. education secretaries, including three Republicans. These are the folks who brought you the “bipartisan” Common Core fiasco, not to mention the collapse of American education into civic ignorance and woke nonsense. Sure, why not follow their advice?
The EAD initiative is dominated by the woke Left, with a sprinkling of conservatives designed to create the illusion of bipartisanship. EAD’s agenda is to provide a sheen of legitimacy to “action civics,” an adaptation of Alinsky-style community organizing to education. So-called action civics gives teachers a mandate to get their students out demonstrating and lobbying, almost invariably on behalf of leftist causes. Courses in action civics also mandate “service learning,” in which students intern with leftist community organizations, providing them with free labor while participating in their advocacy.
This is indoctrination and political activism under the name of “civics.” I doubt a single one of the GOP education secretaries who signed that op-ed has even heard of action civics. You can bet Obama’s secretary of education Arne Duncan has, though. He popularized it.
If you want the truth about the EAD initiative so foolishly endorsed by these paragons of the Republican education establishment, here’s where to go. John Fonte has a great critique of EAD, just out. I have background on the dry run for EAD in Massachusetts and its links to Democratic plans for permanent electoral dominance. Joy Pullmann has some fun with EAD, which is maybe the best way to look at it.