education

Education Department Launches ‘Presidential 1776 Award’ to Promote Civics Education

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) on Monday announced the creation of the Presidential 1776 Award, a national competition meant to promote civic knowledge ahead of America’s Semiquincentennial – the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The award will recognize “exceptional student knowledge of the American founding,” the ED shared in a press release. The award program “establishes a national scholarship contest that evaluates students’ understanding of civics and the principles that shaped the United States.”

Participating high school students “will compete in three rounds of multiple-choice and verbal examinations” being developed by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation.

The national finals will be held in Washington, D.C. in June 2026, with three winners receiving scholarships totaling $250,000.

“What better way to get our students excited about learning more of our nation’s deep and rich history than a friendly competition meant to challenge high schoolers to show off their knowledge of our great nation’s founding ideals?” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.

The ED explained how the competition will unfold:

  • In round one, students take The Impossible Civics Test, an online, timed, electronically proctored multiple-choice exam. Students have 90 minutes to answer up to 4000 randomized civics and founding history questions in three 30-minute sections of increasing difficulty. Four finalists from each state are selected.
  • In round two, the finalists from each state advance to five regional semifinals, which consist of short answer verbal competitions held simultaneously across the country. The top four students from each region move on to the national final.
  • In round three, students will answer short answer verbal questions and will be awarded a point for each correct answer. The top three winners receive scholarships of up to $150,000.

“As we prepare to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, this competition is an opportunity for young people to push themselves, learn our history, and take pride in the principles that unite us,” Secretary McMahon added.

“I am grateful to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation and all of the educators, partners, and families who are helping to make this effort possible. Game on!”

The ED also shared information about the competition on its social media pages.

The competition comes at an important time when American’s civic knowledge seems to be increasing.

A survey released on Constitution Day by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that more than two-thirds of U.S. adults (70%) can name all three branches of government, compared to just 65% last year. Most Americans, however, can name only one of the five rights guaranteed under the First Amendment – the freedom of speech.

The Presidential 1776 Award is just one of the ED’s initiatives to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.

Secretary McMahon’s other Education 250 initiatives include the History Rocks: Trail to Independence Tour, in which the secretary is visiting all 50 states in the approximate order in which they joined the Union; and the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, made up of over 50 organizations, which will host multiple events in 2026 “inspiring citizens to reflect on America’s story” and “deepen their understanding of civic responsibility.”

The ED urged Americans to learn more about the Presidential 1776 Award and sign up by visiting www.presidential1776award.org. Interested individuals can sign up for the contest newsletter to get information and instructions when the registration opens on Feb. 1, 2026.

Related articles and resources:

Putting Children First in Education

School Choice for Parents

Schooling Options

Public Charter Schools

Is Homeschooling The Best For Me And My Kids?

Home Schooling: Giving Your Child a Strong Foundation

7 Things Every Homeschooling Rookie Should Know

Faith Development and Homeschooling

Constitution Day Survey Finds Americans’ Civic Knowledge Increasing

President Trump Signs Executive Order Dismantling Department of Education

Photo from Getty Images.

Maryland School Teaches Sixth Graders About Being ‘Transgender’ and ‘Nonbinary’

In celebration of “Transgender Awareness Week,” Westland Middle School, in Bethesda, Maryland, gave sixth grade students lessons on “transgenderism” and “being nonbinary.”

As reported by Fox News, the 11- and 12-year-old students were inculcated into the irrational, deceptive world of transgender ideology via videos and a 12-slide presentation.  

As reporter Andrew Mark Miller explained for the news outlet:

Multiple slides in the presentation provide information on “what it means” to be transgender and students are then quizzed about what they learned.
In another slide, students are told to discuss questions with their neighbor in class, including, How do people know if they are a ‘girl’ or ‘boy?’”
Slide from Fox News of the sixth grade lesson on “transgenderism.”

Another slide asked students to answer questions such as: “What do I already know about the experiences of transgender people?”; “What do I want to know about the experiences of transgender people?”; and, following the lesson, “What have I learned about the experiences of transgender people?”

The slides included “8 Tips for Being Nonbinary!” a video from a “non-binary producer” named “Laurenzo” who has 889 thousand followers on TikTok and 54 thousand followers on Instagram.

In the video, Laurenzo answered questions such as, “If someone calls you by your wrong pronouns, what do you do?” and “I don’t know which ‘label’ is right for me … Help?”

“Laurenzo” in front of the “nonbinary” flag.

In answering the latter question, Laurenzo described her journey from straight to bisexual to lesbian to nonbinary, saying she always identified as an “androgynous person.”

She encouraged the sixth graders “to create the identity that you feel is your true self on the inside,” rather than embracing their male or female sex.

The activist also referred to her “chosen family” – a term used by some in the LGBT community when they reject their natural family and embrace others who identify as homosexual or transgender as their “real family.” 

Laurenzo goes on to talk about “how to bind properly.” Breast binding, also known as chest binding, is the dangerous practice of using cloth strips, sports bras or special undergarments that compress breast tissue, flattening the breasts in an attempt to look male.

These attempts by females to look masculine come with many risks, as a fact sheet from the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) explains. The professional organization notes that 89-97% of individuals who bind their breasts report adverse reactions in online surveys, including:

  • Chest and/or back pain, reported by 75-80%, with 39% describing severe pain and 21% reporting limitation in daily activities.
  • Fractured ribs (3%).
  • Pulmonary problems, such as shortness of breath (47-68%); reduced exercise tolerance and difficulty speaking; pulmonary edema; and restrictive lung disease.
  • Skin problems (78%),including acne, rashes, itching and scarring.

ACPeds concludes:

Since most children and adolescents who feel uncomfortable with their biological sex, will feel comfortable at the end of normal uninterrupted puberty, chest (breast) binding should not be recommended. Those who practice chest binding should be educated about the adverse effects.

Laurenzo notes that binding “restricts your breathing, but she then goes on to tell the sixth graders:

My general advice about binding is make sure you’re being safe about it, don’t be wearing a binder more than eight hours in a day [and] definitely not exercising.

There is nothing “safe” about this practice. Montgomery County Public Schools is promoting a dangerous, false ideology. When young people attempt to change their bodies to mimic the opposite sex, there are multiple, irreparable health risks.  

Humans are made in the image of God – male and female. This isn’t just a biblical, theological issue, it’s also a matter of science. “Gender,” as some sort of internal self-definition, is a false concept.

Westland Middle School is one of the top-ranked middle schools in Maryland – yet it is teaching an unscientific concept as if it were true. In addition, only 68% of students are proficient in reading and 40% are proficient in math – scores which would earn a D and an F, respectively, in most classrooms.

Rather than indoctrination, the school should stick to teaching the basics.

Related articles and resources:

Addressing Gender Identity with Honesty and Compassion

An Essential Primer on Defending the Reality of Male and Female

Counseling Consultation & Referrals

FTC Begins Investigating ‘Gender-Affirming’ Medical Community for Deception, False Advertising

HHS Releases Report on Harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical Interventions for Minors

How the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue Attacks the Family

How to Respond to “Trans” and Gender Ideology? Simple: Live Not by Lies

Resources for families struggling with wrong-sex identification

Transgenderism and Minors: What Does the Research Really Show?

‘Transgender Means Many Different Things’ — And Nothing

What Does it Mean to Be Trans, Anyway?

Should Taxpayers Be Paying for Students’ Breakfast and Lunch?

There are currently nine states that provide free breakfast and lunch to all public school students: California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.

In Colorado, voters will be deciding this November whether the “free” meal program will continue.

Originally approved in 2022, a “Yes” vote on Proposition MM will increase taxes on those families or individuals earning more than $300,000 a year and keep the current program going. The existing “Healthy School Meals for ALL” (HSMA) has been running annual deficits since its inception.

The concept of taxpayer-funded meals at public schools for the poor is not a new phenomenon. Adopting and adapting policies from Europe, The Children’s Aid Society in New York launched a program in 1853. The benefit was limited to a vocational school. Despite calls by some to expand it across public schools, it took until the early 1900s for it to become policy in several large city districts.

Historians credit a book written by Robert Hunter in 1904 with triggering wider acceptance, who wrote,

There must be thousands – very likely sixty or seventy thousand children – in New York City alone who often arrive at school hungry and unfitted to do well the work required.

It is utter folly, from the point of view of learning, to have a compulsory school law which compels children, in that weak physical and mental state which results from poverty, to drag themselves to school and to sit at their desks, day in and day out, for several years, learning little or nothing.

If it is a matter of principle in democratic America that every child shall be given a certain amount of instruction, let us render it possible for them to receive it, as monarchial countries have done, by making full and adequate provision for the physical needs of the children who come from the homes of poverty.

Early implementation of the benefit was run by outside charities until the Philadelphia School Board assumed control in that city in 1909. Other districts soon followed.

To be sure, America was a much different place at the turn of the 20th century. At the time, welfare programs were limited. But then came the Great Depression and President Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal” efforts which significantly expanded and began normalizing and destigmatizing the distribution of government aid.

The Special Milk Program (SMP) launched in 1954 was actually a government subsidy to dairy farmers that doubled as a benefit to students, who could then purchase it for a reduced price. President John F. Kennedy began the tradition of “National School Lunch Week” in 1962 to highlight the correlation between healthy eating and learning.

The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 codified the concept and empowered and encouraged the Secretary of Agriculture to play an active role in making sure America’s schoolchildren had healthy food options in the cafeteria. Federal grants and subsidies incentivized participation.

Of course, there is a big difference between providing and encouraging the availability of nutritious foods in schools and expecting taxpayers to fund it all. In the evolution of school breakfast and lunch programs, unfortunate and unnecessary class divisions have emerged.

In some cases, such as in Colorado, taxpayers of a certain income level (over $300,000) bear the burden – but all taxpayers, regardless of income, help fund public school, and the monies are often fungible.

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone unmoved by efforts to help those students and families in true need – but the idea of a state providing free meals for everyone? One might argue it’s a matter of fairness. Others will point out the sensitivity and embarrassment of some paying and others not paying anything at all.

Yet, does the government providing free meals for all instill and cultivate a dangerous mindset that Big Brother is here to take care of you from beginning to end? Or is it in the best interest of all given the importance of children eating well in order to learn well? But is it really a zero-sum game?

Thomas Sowell once observed, “Cell phones and other electronic devices are by no means unheard of in low-income neighborhoods, where children would supposedly go hungry if there were no school-lunch programs. In reality, low-income people are overweight more often than other Americans.”

In Colorado, no groups have formed to oppose the proposition to continue free meals, and no money has been raised to try and persuade people to vote against the initiative. It seems nobody wants to be accused of supporting anything that’s anti-child.

It’s ironic, though, that many of the same people who support taxpayer meals for children also support the right to kill children who, just a few years earlier, were still in the womb.

Image from Shutterstock.

Heritage Foundation: Where Does Your State Rank on Education Freedom?

The Heritage Foundation recently released its 2025 Education Freedom Report Card, which evaluates and ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia according to key components that determine parents’ freedom to choose the best education for their children.

The report also lists states that moved toward more education freedom in 2025.

The publication’s introduction quoted philosopher John Stuart Mills’ warning against state control of education because it allowed leaders to mold people “to be exactly like one another” in a way that pleases “the predominant power in the government.”

Heritage noted that America has failed to follow Mill’s guidance, “Rather than encouraging a diverse and pluralistic system of schools, Americans created a public school system characterized by ZIP code assignment, regulatory capture by far left-leaning employee unions, high spending, low academic achievement and pervasive efforts to [mold] the views of children in disturbing ways. “

The 2025 report card lists the five states with the highest levels of education freedom in dark green: Florida, Arizona, Idaho, Arkansas and Louisiana. The states with the lowest levels of educational freedom, illustrated in red, were Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island – with Maine at the very bottom of the list.

States were rated on four components: education choice, teacher freedom, transparency and return on investment.

Education choice includes whether a state offers education savings accounts for education expenses and what proportion of students qualify for these programs. It also includes the proportion of charter schools to public schools; the proportion of students in charter, private and home schools; and the amount of regulation burdening alternatives to government schools.     

Teacher freedom rankings considered whether states allow new teachers to be “certified through alternative pathways” or if they require traditional teacher licensing. This category also measured the proportion of school districts with chief diversity officers who “limit academic freedom in the classroom” and whether a state “grants full reciprocity to teachers who complete their certification in other states.”

The Heritage Foundation defines the third component, Transparency, as whether “the education system gives parents information to make the best decisions about their children’s education.” States were also rated on whether they had enacted a “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”

Heritage researchers also looked to see if a state protected teachers and students from critical race theory and transgender ideology – or if it compelled indoctrination in these radical ideologies and forced students and staff to use a student’s “chosen name and pronouns.

Transparency in education also included parents’ right to access curricula and materials; a state’s protection of public comments at school board meetings; and the timing of school board election cycle.

The report explains the latter, “This variable indicates whether states hold school board elections on cycle with the general election. Teachers’ unions often lobby for off-cycle elections so that they can ensure a larger turnout from their members. This makes it more likely that union-friendly school board members are elected.”

Return on investment was determined by dividing average fourth and eighth grade state scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress by its per-pupil spending. Researchers also looked at the ratio of teachers to non-teaching staff, noting, “Much of the K–12 public school spending has resulted in more school administrators, not investments in teachers and resources to improve education quality.”

States were given a separate civics education rating, which included whether a year-long civics course was a requirement for high school students and quantification of “how many classical education schools each state has per 100,000 K–12 students.” 

Civics education was also rated by “whether states require students to pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Test, or an equivalent,” as well as a state’s performance on the NAEP’s Civics Test.

The Heritage Foundation listed major gains just this year as more states embrace education freedom:

  • Tennessee (new education savings account (ESA) program).
  • Idaho (new personal use tax credit).
  • Indiana (expanded eligibility for voucher program).
  • Louisiana (new ESA program).
  • Missouri (expanded tax credit funded ESA).
  • New Hampshire (expanded eligibility for ESA program).
  • Wyoming (new ESA).
  • Perhaps most important of all, Texas joined the fraternity of states providing universal choice to K–12 students.

Despite those advances, the state education survey indicates how much more work is needed to allow parents the freedom to provide their children with the best education possible.

Focus on the Family and Family Policy Alliance have produced a comprehensive resource, Equipping Parents for Back-to-School, that empowers parents and concerned citizens as they work to improve government schools.

Equipping Parents helps you understand your rights and your children’s rights, prepares you to take action if needed, explains state and federal laws related to a variety of school issues and gives guidance for talking with your child about sensitive issues.

The free, downloadable PDF has sections dealing with different areas of concern within local schools, such as classroom curriculums and textbooks, sports teams and locker rooms, school health clinics and counseling offices, and school internet and computers.

Then, the resource equips you with ideas for responding and protecting your child.

Related Articles and Resources

Check out your state’s education freedom assessment ranking. 

FBI Reports: Crime in Schools: Almost 1.3 Million Incidents from 2020-2024

Gender Ideology Sours Feds on Comprehensive Sex Ed

Huge Increase in Home Schooling Numbers

More than Twenty States Limit Smartphone Use in Schools

Reading and Math Scores Plummeted During Pandemic, New Report Finds

Trump Ends Radical Indoctrination, Promotes Education Freedom

Sex Educators Say ‘Early Grades May Be the Best Time’ to Introduce Children to LGBT Issues

Sexualizing Schoolchildren: Comprehensive Sex Ed

What’s Happening in Schools? Why We Need Educational Freedom

Images from Shutterstock and The Heritage Foundation.

Image from Shutterstock.

FBI Reports: Crime in Schools: Almost 1.3 Million Incidents from 2020-2024

Almost 1.3 million criminal incidents occurred at schools across the nation from 2020 to 2024, a new FBI report finds.

Crime in Schools: 2020-2024 reports there were 1.5 million offenses against people and property, 1.5 million victims of crimes and 1.25 million known offenders associated with those incidents.

In a Fox News opinion piece on the FBI report, school choice activist Corey DeAngelis explained why the actual number of crimes is probably much higher than 1.3 million.

“The kicker is that this figure is almost certainly an undercount. In 2024, only about 9,000 law enforcement agencies submitted data to the FBI for the report, even though there are roughly 18,000 of these agencies nationwide.”

“That under reporting means we’re only getting a partial picture that likely misses hundreds of thousands more incidents from excluded jurisdictions. The real number of crimes in America’s schools is undoubtedly much higher, painting an even grimmer portrait of the system.”

In addition, some schools handle minor offenses internally, without reporting to law enforcement officials.

DeAngelis, author of The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools, noted the crime analysis is an important argument for educational freedom, “Competition forces schools to prioritize safety to attract and retain families.”

He explained,

Kids shouldn’t be trapped in dangerous schools. Every day, children are exposed to violence, abuse and chaos in these government-run institutions. …

The evidence overwhelmingly indicates that school choice helps children attend safer schools. My peer-reviewed analysis of the literature, published in Educational Review in 2022, found that private and charter schools are consistently safer than traditional public schools.

These choice options foster environments with less violence, fewer disruptions, and stronger discipline standards.

“Crime in Schools” gives details about the types of offenses:

  • Assaults were the most reported offenses in the Crimes Against Persons category.
  • Larceny/thefts were the most reported crimes in the Crimes Against Property category.
  • Drug/narcotic offenses were the most reported crimes in the Crimes Against Society category.
  • When a weapon was involved in a crime, it was most often personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.).

When weapons were involved in crimes, assailants used “personal weapons” 411,192 times, knives or cutting instruments 33,470 times, and guns 21,338 times.

The FBI also listed characteristics of victims, including their age, stating, “The age group with the highest number of victims over the 5-year period was 19 or older. For ages 18 or under, victims were most frequently reported in the 13 to 15 age group.”

Focus on the Family has long advocated for educational freedom. Parents need greater freedom as they raise their children and guide them toward academic success. In numerous articles, the Daily Citizen has described the capture of our educational system by radical idealogues; the sexualization and confusion of children through inappropriate sexual education, classroom instruction and school library books; and the failure of many schools to educate children in basic subjects.

Thankfully, many states are offering educational freedom, and the Trump administration is encouraging this trend.

But the FBI “Crime in Schools Report” shows the need for more states to move in that direction in order to protect all students.  

Download Equipping Parents for Back-to-School to find out more about what’s happening in schools and how to advocate for your children. This free resource empowers parents to make a difference in their children’s schools.

Related Articles and Resources

Advocating for Educational Freedom and School Choice

Bill that Teaches ‘Gender Identity’ to Kindergarteners Signed into Law by Illinois Governor

Department of Education: Schools Embracing DEI Will Lose Funding

Trump Ends Radical Indoctrination, Promotes Education Freedom

Sex Educators Say ‘Early Grades May Be the Best Time’ to Introduce Children to LGBT Issues

Sexualizing Schoolchildren: Comprehensive Sex Ed

What’s Happening in Schools? Why We Need Educational Freedom

Image from Shutterstock.