War on History Education

War on History Education

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Education Counsel - Executive Actions Chart
Education Counsel - Executive Actions Chart
From Education Counsel, an education consulting firm, an updated list of executive orders related to education and the litigation related to them. This is the go-to list for what is happening with each of them.
·docs.google.com·
Education Counsel - Executive Actions Chart
Key Considerations as K-12 Leaders Navigate Minefield Involving DEI, Federal Funding, and Potential Investigations - April 7
Key Considerations as K-12 Leaders Navigate Minefield Involving DEI, Federal Funding, and Potential Investigations - April 7
This is a law firm's general guidance to K-12 leaders contemplating their responses to the recent DOE letter demanding certification of compliance with Title VI (as interpreted by the DOE). Although much of this important advice deals with programs, hiring, placement, counseling and discipline, it also references curriculum. It seems like that the upcoming publication of the "Ending Indoctrination Strategy" document, due April 29th, will target history curriculum and teaching
Curriculum that touches on systemic racism, privilege, and critical race theory
In fact, at least one state education department, in New York, has already stated that it will not sign the certification, characterizing the certification as duplicative of assurances already provided and overstating the holding of Harvard.
DOE/DOJ Title IX Special Investigations Team (SIT).
Be prepared for the creation and intervention of a "DEI Special Investigations Team" to review district initiatives and activities.
Consult with their respective state education departments for guidance.
The order required Cabinet members to develop an "Ending Indoctrination Strategy" by April 29. Secretary McMahon has made clear that her priorities include "combatting critical race theory."
·parkerpoe.com·
Key Considerations as K-12 Leaders Navigate Minefield Involving DEI, Federal Funding, and Potential Investigations - April 7
National History Day Discontinued
National History Day Discontinued
The pop-up that appears when you first look at the National History Day site reads "National History Day was recently notified that our grants from the national Endowment for the Humanities were cancelled. This means a loos of more than $336.000 over this year and the nest
·nhd.org·
National History Day Discontinued
Don't Cut Ohio Libraries
Don't Cut Ohio Libraries
As the state budget is developed and debated, a proposal in the Ohio House of Representatives will cut $100 million in public library funding. It is important to keep in mind that the national cut to the Institute of Library and Museum Services is being mirrored in state budgets across the country. The effort to cut public education, learning and understanding of the past has a deep and broad momentum.
·olc.org·
Don't Cut Ohio Libraries
The White House Frames the Past by Erasing Parts of It - NY Times
The White House Frames the Past by Erasing Parts of It - NY Times

"As the Trump administration pulls government websites and data offline, it is selectively stripping away the public record, letting the president declare his own version of history, archivists and historians said."

"President Trump’s team is selectively stripping away the public record, reconstructing his preferred vision of America in the negative space of purged history, archivists and historians said. As data and resources are deleted or altered, something foundational is also at risk: Americans’ ability to access and evaluate their past, and with it, their already shaky trust in facts."

President Trump’s team is selectively stripping away the public record, reconstructing his preferred vision of America in the negative space of purged history, archivists and historians said. As data and resources are deleted or altered, something foundational is also at risk: Americans’ ability to access and evaluate their past, and with it, their already shaky trust in facts.
“There are tectonic plates that are shifting, and it’s a new version of truth that is being portrayed, and that, I think, is the most profound danger we have ever faced as a country,”
aurence H. Tribe, a constitutional scholar and professor emeritus at Harvard Law School.
The Data Rescue Project,
Mark Graham, the director of the Wayback Machine,
“What we’re seeing this time around is unprecedented, both in terms of the scope and the scale of the web-based resources that are being taken offline, and material on those pages that is being changed,”
“We’ve seen examples throughout history and all over the world where governments attempt to change culture, change the values of a population by changing and/or restricting access to information,” he said. “I think we still see that to this day.”
The Defense Department said it would republish pages about Jackie Robinson’s military service, the Enola Gay B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Navajo Code Talkers and others.
·nytimes.com·
The White House Frames the Past by Erasing Parts of It - NY Times
Japanese American National Museum takes a stand against DOGE cuts to NEH - LA TImes
Japanese American National Museum takes a stand against DOGE cuts to NEH - LA TImes
$175,000 in NEH grants used by the Japanese American National Museum to fund teacher professional development programs was cut by the Trump Administration. The museum is also losing funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences.
On Wednesday night, state humanities councils across the country had begun receiving similar letters stating that their NEH funding had been terminated, one day after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency visited NEH headquarters.
Over the last two years, more than 100 teachers from 31 states have attended the two-week program and shared their experiences and new knowledge with approximately 21,000 students.
·latimes.com·
Japanese American National Museum takes a stand against DOGE cuts to NEH - LA TImes
UMass Amhert Chancellor Reyes - April 5
UMass Amhert Chancellor Reyes - April 5
Pledging support for international students, UMass Amherst, the school provides detailed information regarding the law and the efforts to protect students. UMass Amherst also keeps the school community appraised of developments at https://www.umass.edu/news/federal-actions
Additionally, UMass has established the Angel Fund to help meet the legal, academic, housing, living and counseling needs of students who are adversely affected by changes in federal immigration.
·view.marcom.umass.edu·
UMass Amhert Chancellor Reyes - April 5
Publishers Send Letter to Congress Advocating for Libraries & IMLS Funding
Publishers Send Letter to Congress Advocating for Libraries & IMLS Funding
This letter submitted to Congress April 3, 2025 by Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks advocating for libraries in response to the Executive Order signed on March 14 that calls for the dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
·global.penguinrandomhouse.com·
Publishers Send Letter to Congress Advocating for Libraries & IMLS Funding
Federal Investigations of UC Faculty Members – The Council of UC Faculty Associations
Federal Investigations of UC Faculty Members – The Council of UC Faculty Associations
Letter to President of the University of California and UC Regents regarding the UC system's provision of personal and demographic information of 850 faculty to the EEOC.
In the past several weeks, faculty and students across the country have experienced unprecedented attacks on their constitutional and civil rights as a result of the Trump Administration’s assault on US higher education. This assault has included the abduction and threats of ideological deportations of international students living in the US on permanent resident visas, the unilateral takeover and shuttering of departments and programs that the government disfavors, efforts to shift faculty shared governance to university trustees, and an expanded presence of armed police on university campuses.
·cucfa.org·
Federal Investigations of UC Faculty Members – The Council of UC Faculty Associations
Trump Administration Moves to Cut Humanities Endowment - NY Times April 3
Trump Administration Moves to Cut Humanities Endowment - NY Times April 3
Grant recipients have been told that funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities would be redirected to furthering “the president’s agenda.” Michael McDonald, the Acting NEH Chairman, suggested that , "going forward, the agency would focus on patriotic programming"
The National Endowment for the Humanities has canceled most of its grant programs and started putting staff on administrative leave, as its resources are set to be redirected toward supporting President Trump’s priorities
In a meeting on Thursday afternoon, Mr. McDonald told senior leadership that upward of 85 percent of the agency’s hundreds of current grants were to be canceled, according to two people privy to the meeting. He also suggested that, going forward, the agency would focus on patriotic programming, the employees said.
·nytimes.com·
Trump Administration Moves to Cut Humanities Endowment - NY Times April 3
Tufts University Declaration for Rümeysa Öztürk
Tufts University Declaration for Rümeysa Öztürk
This declaration by Tufts University supports a motion filed today by Rümeysa Öztürk’s legal team i in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. She is a Turkish citizen who entered the USA on an F-1 student visa to study human development and was responsible for co-authoring an article in The Tufts Daily, a student newspaper of Tufts University. She was by six plainclothes agents of the United States Department of Homeland Security and her visa was revoked.
·tufts.edu·
Tufts University Declaration for Rümeysa Öztürk
Executive Order Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History - March 27
Executive Order Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History - March 27
The Order claims "Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth and targets Smithsonian funding.
Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.
take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to ensure that all public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties within the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.
It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.  Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.
prohibit expenditure on exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy
·whitehouse.gov·
Executive Order Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History - March 27
Opinion | Trump’s Order to the Smithsonian Distorts Teaching of American History
Opinion | Trump’s Order to the Smithsonian Distorts Teaching of American History
David Blight of Yale responds - "The order is nothing less than a declaration of political war on the historians’ profession, our training and integrity, as well as on the freedom — in the form of curious minds — of anyone who seeks to understand our country by visiting museums or historic sites."
·nytimes.com·
Opinion | Trump’s Order to the Smithsonian Distorts Teaching of American History
Historians Defend the Smithsonian - AHA
Historians Defend the Smithsonian - AHA
Response of The American Historical Association to the Executive Order entitled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History"
The Executive Order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” issued on March 27 by the White House, egregiously misrepresents the work of the Smithsonian Institution.
This is simply untrue; it misrepresents the work of those museums and the public’s engagement with their collections and exhibits. It also completely misconstrues the nature of historical work.
·historians.org·
Historians Defend the Smithsonian - AHA
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Restores Truth and Sanity to American History - March 27
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Restores Truth and Sanity to American History - March 27

Although this is not even named an Executive Order, This White House order outlines an ideological makeover of the Smithsonian and directs the Secretary of the Interior to restore monuments and modify the presentation of Independence Hall in furtherance of ideological aims.

David Blight described this as "The order is nothing less than a declaration of political war on the historians’ profession, our training and integrity, as well as on the freedom — in the form of curious minds — of anyone who seeks to understand our country by visiting museums or historic sites."

claims that the United States has “used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.”
eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo.
Secretary of the Interior restore Federal parks, monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties that have been improperly removed or changed in the last five years to perpetuate a false revision of history or improperly minimize or disparage certain historical figures or events
National Garden of American Heroes.
·whitehouse.gov·
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Restores Truth and Sanity to American History - March 27
Disciplinary Teacher Organizations Urge Federal Coordination of Public Education
Disciplinary Teacher Organizations Urge Federal Coordination of Public Education
Although this joint statement of the NCTA, the NCSS, NCTM, and NSTA notes "concerns" about recent efforts to dismantle public education , it does not include the words "Department of Education"
We are profoundly concerned by recent federal efforts to dismantle public education, which has long been a cornerstone of American society, a pillar of democracy, and a primary vehicle for opportunity.
State and local education institutions cannot independently compete with global education systems—this is precisely why federal coordination and support through the US Department of Education remains vital.
·socialstudies.org·
Disciplinary Teacher Organizations Urge Federal Coordination of Public Education
March 21st Statement from the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association Strongly Opposing the Abolishment of the U.S. Department of Education March 20, 2025
March 21st Statement from the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association Strongly Opposing the Abolishment of the U.S. Department of Education March 20, 2025
The NJPSA urges Congress to reject any efforts to destroy the DOE
Abolishing the USDOE will create instability, widen disparities, narrow access to the research that supports best practices in education, and undermine the progress that has been made in advancing public education over several decades.
·njpsa.org·
March 21st Statement from the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association Strongly Opposing the Abolishment of the U.S. Department of Education March 20, 2025
A Statement by Teachers College, Columbia University Faculty - March 19th
A Statement by Teachers College, Columbia University Faculty - March 19th
In a strong statement of support for education and academic freedom, the faculty of Teachers College provides social studies teachers and public school administrators with effective language to engage others in their schools and community in defending education
We see the attack on Columbia as part of a larger offensive by the Trump administration and the Republican party against education at all levels. An attack on academic freedom and the First Amendment is taking place on multiple fronts, all of which impact the basic human activity of learning in all of its forms and meanings.
The intention of the Trump administration is clear. By gutting important systems of education, they can shape our thoughts and words, creating a new generation without the skills required to actively participate in our democracy and push back against oppression.
We recognize that Columbia, like many institutions, has much ongoing work to do to ensure campus is a place that can foster and support everyone’s learning, by actively addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of discrimination and hatred. Yet the disproportionate response to anti-war protest on our campus must be acknowledged. We take note of the “Palestine exception,” which blocks discourse by treating Palestine and Palestinians as topics beyond First Amendment and academic freedom protections. Such a pattern has barred necessary speech and difficult dialogues on our campuses, causing division and fear amongst students, staff, and faculty members.
As experts on teaching and learning, we know that the most profound moments of learning are usually uncomfortable, as they may lead people to question taken-for-granted assumptions about themselves and the society they inhabit.
The goal of good teaching is not to eliminate that discomfort, but to give it a productive use.
We call on university leaders, on our campus and beyond, to use all of the tools at their disposal, including collective efforts across the sector and litigation, to stand for academic freedom, and for First Amendment rights of free speech, inquiry, and debate, and thus to stand for our democracy.
·docs.google.com·
A Statement by Teachers College, Columbia University Faculty - March 19th
Researchers advised not to respond to US questionnaire - Leiden University - March 19
Researchers advised not to respond to US questionnaire - Leiden University - March 19

The administration of Leiden University in the Netherlands is advising researchers and organizations to not respond to letters of inquiry they've received from the United States Geological Survey and other American funders.

UNL president, Caspar van den Berg, says the questionnaire is emblematic of ‘the worsening climate’ for free science in the US. ‘This is also affecting Dutch universities and researchers, which makes it crucial to stand together for free science.’

UNL president, Caspar van den Berg, says the questionnaire is emblematic of ‘the worsening climate’ for free science in the US. ‘This is also affecting Dutch universities and researchers, which makes it crucial to stand together for free science.’
·staff.universiteitleiden.nl·
Researchers advised not to respond to US questionnaire - Leiden University - March 19
Oklahoma Education Social Studies
Oklahoma Education Social Studies
This is Oklahoma's Department of Education site, which centerpieces PragerU Kids videos, joining Arizona, Florida and Texas in promoting an ideologically based interpretation of US History
·oklahoma.gov·
Oklahoma Education Social Studies
Proposed Oklahoma social studies standards suggest ‘discrepancies’ in 2020 election • Oklahoma Voice
Proposed Oklahoma social studies standards suggest ‘discrepancies’ in 2020 election • Oklahoma Voice
The most important element of this story as of the morning of March 16th, is the Social Studies Standards are not public for review.
The agency didn’t share the new version on its website for public view as it has with past standards updates, and state Superintendent Ryan Walters declined to speak with reporters afterward.
·oklahomavoice.com·
Proposed Oklahoma social studies standards suggest ‘discrepancies’ in 2020 election • Oklahoma Voice
National Council for Social Studies - Statement on "Executive Order Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling"
National Council for Social Studies - Statement on "Executive Order Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling"
The NCSS states that "The teaching of U.S. history should invite discussion, encourage inquiry, and reflect the diverse people, places, and events that shape our shared human experience. "
Concerns about what is being taught in social studies classrooms have also grown, often driven by misinformation.
social studies instruction is rooted in helping students think critically about history, government, and society—not in advancing any specific ideology.
The teaching of U.S. history should invite discussion, encourage inquiry, and reflect the diverse people, places, and events that shape our shared human experience.
·socialstudies.org·
National Council for Social Studies - Statement on "Executive Order Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling"
U.S. Dept. of Education "Dear Colleague" Letter | Rutgers University
U.S. Dept. of Education "Dear Colleague" Letter | Rutgers University
The President of Rutgers tells the University community that Rutgers considers diversity necessary to foster cultural competencies
Rutgers considers diversity to be necessary to foster the cultural competencies, resilience, and openness to dialogue that promote the intellectual growth and intergroup understanding that are essential for success in the classroom, the university community, and society at large.
·rutgers.edu·
U.S. Dept. of Education "Dear Colleague" Letter | Rutgers University