Parents furious as ‘patriotic’ event tied to Charlie Kirk comes to N.J. school. ‘I’m absolutely speechless.’
Charlie Kirk's group, Turning Point USA, is one of the sponsors of a history tour that will stop at a New Jersey school.Photo by Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images / Canva illustration
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon will visit a Monmouth County middle school Friday in one of the first stops on a 50-state tour in partnership with conservative groups that has outraged some parents.
McMahon will headline an event at Cedar Drive Middle School in Colts Neck to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The “History Rocks!” initiative is part of the Trump administration’s America 250 Civics Education Coalition — a partnership that includes Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Moms for Liberty, the America First Policy Institute, the conservative Christian Hillsdale College and other right-leaning groups.
Colts Neck School Board President Angelique Volpe’s early outreach to the U.S. Department of Education helped “position our district for consideration in this unique opportunity,” according to a letter to district families sent Tuesday by Superintendent MaryJane Garibay.
McMahon’s visit “will include a whole-school assembly, a guided tour with classroom visits, and a small-group roundtable discussion with the Colts Neck Township Board of Education, select students, teachers, and administrators,” the letter said.
Some parents and education advocates are objecting to the visit.
A petition circulating among Colts Neck families calls on the school district to cancel the event.
“Public schools are supposed to be ideologically neutral. Organizations pushing a specific political or religious agenda have no business designing civics curriculum for our kids,” the petition said.
One Colts Neck parent, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said he plans to keep his middle school student home on Friday.
“I am absolutely speechless that Turning Point USA and Hillsdale College are even allowed to be within a government sanctioned function,” the father of two said.
Though the tour’s promotional materials promise a focus on “patriotic” education, the father said he does not want his daughter subjected to the ideas of groups who advocate conservative Christian ideals.
Though he views Colts Neck’s school leadership as highly inclusive, the father said he fears McMahon’s presentation might convey racist or homophobic messages.
“I just don’t want her to feel uncomfortable in that setting,” he said of his daughter.
Another parent questioned whether the history event would be non-partisan with so many conservative groups involved.
“We are uncomfortable and upset that our administration feels that it would be appropriate to bring a one-sided, selective view of history before students,” the mom said.
As an elementary school parent, she said she is concerned there will be a trickle down effect and some of the curricular materials and messaging will be disseminated to other grades in the district without parents being notified.
“We all want to support civic education and patriotism and those things. But to make sure that we’re using a balanced and evidence-based curriculum that presents factual, inclusive accounts,” she said.
Michael Gottesman, founder of the New Jersey Public Education Coalition, said he also has concerns about what students will be taught at the event.
“If we see what we think is violations of federal or state law, we pass that information on to the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights and Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office,” he said.
Gov. Phil Murphy’s office did not immediately respond to a request to comment on McMahon’s visit.
U.S. Department of Education officials said the America 250 Civics Education Coalition will “provide teacher summits, and distribute resources from partners like Hillsdale College, Turning Point USA, PragerU, and others to restore civic literacy and patriotism.”
PragerU, a conservative advocacy group, received criticism last summer for creating a video for children in which an animated version of abolitionist Frederick Douglass says, “I’m certainly not OK with slavery, but the founding fathers made a compromise to achieve something great: the making of the United States.”
Members of the America 250 Civics Education Coalition said they are trying to bring history and civics lessons to schools that highlight American principles.
“We’ve found in education reform efforts over the past decade, our schools — especially public schools — have been indoctrinating children in radical ideology, including anti-Americanism and values contrary to our founding principles,” Erika Donalds, America First Policy Institute’s Chair of Education Opportunity, said at the project’s launch.
Because McMahon is just starting the tour, little is known about what she and other speakers will say to students.
“Turning Point USA, which includes Turning Point Education, is more resolved than ever to advance God-centered, virtuous education for students flourishing across our nation,” Hutz H. Hertzberg, Chief Education Officer of Turning Point Education, said in a press release announcing the initiative.
McMahon’s visit to Colts Neck comes shortly after the school district adopted a “Parental Bill of Rights” policy that drew criticism from LGBTQ+ supporters who said it could hurt gay and transgender kids.
The policy authorizes parents to inquire about and receive information when their children change their pronouns or gender identity at school. The “Parental Bill of Rights” also includes rules that say parents have the right to block their children from receiving health, family life education or sex education through an “opt-out” provision currently protected under state and federal law.
Gottesman, the head of the New Jersey Public Education Coalition, questioned whether Colts Neck officials adequately notified parents about what they will be learning during McMahon’s visit.
“All that this board talks about is transparency to parents about what’s being taught. And then they turn around and they send out notification of this presentation four days in advance,” Gottesman said.
Garden State Equality, a statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, also called on Colts Neck to cancel the McMahon event. The group questioned whether the lessons given to students will be nonpartisan, as the superintendent said in her letter to families.