WATCH: Education department launches America 250 effort

By Esther Wickham
The Center Square

The U.S. Department of Education, along with private organizations, launched this week the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, in an effort to revive civic education in American schools.

First Liberty Institute joined the department, along with 40 other organizations such as Turning Point USA, in launching this coalition on Constitution Day, commemorating the document’s signing on Sept. 17, 1787.

This coalition’s goal is “to ensure every young American understands the beauty of our nation and is equipped with the civic knowledge required to contribute meaningfully to its future,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said.

“A country cannot survive if its values are forgotten by its people,” she added. “More than ever, we need to restore the vitality of the American spirit, and this coalition will take bold steps to educate, inspire and mobilize youth toward active and informed citizenship.”

Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of First Liberty, told The Center Square that, to mark the country’s 250th anniversary in July 2026, the coalition seeks to bring back civic literacy to American education and to understand the founding principles in schools across the nation.

“There are so many polls, for instance, like 71% of Americans don’t even know what the three branches of government are,” Shackelford said. “And one of the more disturbing polls is that a large percentage of the students don’t even love their country. And it’s because they don’t know what their country is. They don’t know how wonderful our structure is, everything that’s in place, the freedoms, how it’s different from everybody else.”

Shackelford added there should be a proposal that anyone running for office should take a basic civics test.

Led with the motto “Know America. Love America,” the coalition, over the next 12 months, will launch an agenda that includes the Fundamental Liberties College Speaker Series, student competitions, teacher summits, a 50-state speaking tour on college campuses and “The Trail to Independence Tour,” a K-12 guide to how each state joined the nation, according to First Liberty.

Since the Sept. 10 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, many have debated what this means for freedom of speech and freedom of religion in America.

“Intimidation is not an answer, and that’ll just make people more bold to stand up and protect their freedoms, or they’ll be taken away,” said Shackelford. “So I think this is a great moment for our country for people to rise up for the very principles that Charlie was standing for: free speech, engagement, the exchange of ideas and especially his faith.”

The list of coalition partners can be found here.