Why Public School Families Are Protesting Linda McMahon’s Visits

After spending nearly a year gutting her own department — a policy choice that was ripped from the pages of Project 2025 — the secretary of education, Linda McMahon, has launched a cross-country tour called “History Rocks!”

The tour, which is meant to highlight civics education and celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary, is made possible by the Education Department’s leftover funds from the 2025 fiscal year (perhaps when you fire over 1,300 people, you have some money lying around). McMahon’s involvement includes visiting classrooms, speaking to students, delivering a speech and hosting American history-themed games.

“The History Rocks! initiative is a key component of the U.S. Department of Education’s America 250 celebrations, coordinated with the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, a national partnership with the America First Policy Institute, Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College, and more than 50 national and state organizations,” according to a news release from the Department of Education.

Hutz H. Hertzberg, the chief education officer of Turning Point Education, is quoted in another Department of Education news release saying, “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,” and with that in mind, he is thrilled to partner with coalition partners like Moms for Liberty, Priests for Life, and Project 2025’s creators, the Heritage Foundation.

This information is publicly available from the Department of Education. (In December, my newsroom colleague, Tracey Tully, was barred from entering a school on McMahon’s tour in New Jersey, though some local press was allowed inside.) I had read that the tour had spurred protests in many states, and I had questions about why a right-wing organization that wants to advance “God-centered” education was getting involved in history games with Linda McMahon.

I spent the last week talking to public school parents who were not excited to hear that the secretary was coming to Alabama, Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut because of the extremely conservative, anti-L.G.B.T.Q. and Christian makeup of the America 250 Civics Education Coalition. They were concerned that this tour was part of a larger Trumpian effort to whitewash American history.

Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

Jessica Grose is an Opinion writer for The Times, covering family, religion, education, culture and the way we live now.

© The New York Times