Education Department Honors Charlie Kirk’s Legacy with New Civics Education Program

The U.S. Education Department is partnering with Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College, and others to teach American students about the Constitution, America’s founding ideals, and the responsibilities of citizenship.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Wednesday launched the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, a partnership of more than 40 organizations to bring civics education to classrooms across the country.

The coalition, launched on Constitution Day, commemorates America’s upcoming 250th birthday “with a nationwide effort to reignite passion for our shared heritage, with over 100 events from today through January 1, 2027,” McMahon said.

The announcement came one week after the assassination of Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 in Utah. Though the coalition was assembled before the 31-year-old’s slaying, members of the coalition said the initiative will honor his efforts to spread patriotism among America’s young people.

“Turning Point USA is one of our partners here, and there’s no better organization to help us reach the young people with a love of country and civic literacy, and a determination reflective of Charlie Kirk’s legacy, to spread that far and wide,” said Erika Donalds, co-chair of the coalition and the wife of Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

The partnership is important, because conservative organizations are joining together to accomplish the goals Charlie stood for,” said Hutz Hertzberg, CEO of Turning Point Academy.

“Perhaps even in his death, his influence will extend in even greater ways than it ever could in his life,” Hertzberg said.

He said everything changed for Turning Point on the day of Kirk’s death, but nothing changed about its resolve and commitment to its goals.

“We’re doubling down. We’re tripling down,” he said. “And that spirit is throughout the entire Turning Point USA staff and family.”

Public schools have been indoctrinating students in “radical ideology, including anti-Americanism, and the opposite of foundational American values,” Donalds said in response to a question from The Daily Signal.

“That is completely incompatible with the teaching of free speech in America,” Donalds said. “If our students truly understood the Constitution of the United States, they would never think to say that violence in response to speech would be OK. So, the evidence is there, and that is one of the reasons why this coalition exists, because we have to restore true civic literacy in our education institutions, K-12, higher education, and that is going to be what changes our culture going forward.”

Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn said America is at risk of being lost if we forget the Declaration of Independence.

“We’re going to lose our nation if we lose its central idea,” he said, “and therefore, there’s no more urgent work, no more work dispositive of the future, than to read and celebrate and learn about that document.”

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