'Patriotic' education isn't just flag-waving

Our schools should teach "how America has grown closer to a more perfect union" and "the ways we have fallen short," writes Andrew Rotherham. Defining “patriotic” education as uplifting, and providing federal grants only to uncritical portrayals of America, is a mistake, he argues in a public comment on the Trump administration's proposal.

Replacing left-wing indoctrination with right-wing indoctrination is not the answer, writes Rotherham, who's taught civics and helped write state standards.

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Public schools educate Americans with a wide range of beliefs, Rotherham writes. They will not all agree on what it means to be a patriotic American.

We can teach young students why and how people show respect for the flag, but we cannot coerce their respect for it . . . We can teach about the genius of the Founders’ design, but we cannot suppress dissent should students -- after a rigorous and high-quality education -- see it differently.

American patriots believe our country's history and achievements can stand up to scrutiny, Rotherham writes.

"The key problem in state standards is less about red or blue, left or right, or woke versus anti-woke, and more about instructional ideology and quality," he writes. States should focus on implementing "specific, content-focused, accurate, and rigorous" instruction.

A model is Virginia’s 2023 History and Social Science Standards, which have been praised by people on the political right and left for even-handedness, he writes. "True patriotism includes faith in our institutions, in our people, and in our ability to confront our full history because of our belief in America," Rotherham concludes.

History teachers say they want to teach "hard history" -- not just Mom, Pop, the flag and apple pie -- reports Hechinger's Liz Willen.

Antoine Stroman, who teaches in a Philadelphia high school, "wants his students to ask 'the hard questions' — about slavery, Jim Crow, the murder of George Floyd and other painful episodes that have shaped the United States," he tells Willen.

After the murder of conservative Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus, Trump launched a “civics education coalition” made up almost entirely of conservative groups, including Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Willen writes.

"There will surely be more attention focused on the founders’ original ideals for America as we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this July," writes Willen. Among those creating resources are the nonprofit iCivics, with its “We can teach hard things — and we should” guidelines.

I'm afraid 2026 will be a long, pointless battle between rah-rah patriots and nothing-but-the-warts history teachers.