Today, Nov. 7, is Victims of Communism Day, and this day of remembrance should be a regular part of K-12 school calendars.
Legislators in a growing number of states are adding the recognition to state law, and more may be coming.
Parents have been worried about the culture of K-12 schools in recent years, and the election this week also signaled Americans are concerned about foreign policy, which includes the nation’s relationship to communist nations, such as China.
Policymakers should not consider it a given that all Americans share that concern, however. A YouGov survey released in October found that nearly 1 in 5 respondents had a “very or somewhat” favorable or neutral opinion on communism. A 2021 survey found that millennials and members of Gen Z have the same positive feelings for capitalism and socialism.
That helps explain why communist ideas, such as critical race theory and critical gender studies, have made inroads in K-12 schools, and why young people—including teachers fresh out of college, and elementary and secondary students—are not able to distinguish between free markets and socialism.
And make no mistake, critical race theorists and gender theorists have communist roots and trace their ideas directly back to Karl Marx in their writings.
The culture wars in education still represent a struggle between socialist ideas and democracy.
The Civics Alliance—a collection of conservative researchers, educators, and advocates—is helping educate and inform students with a model resolution for K-12 school boards. The resolution calls on boards to designate Nov. 7 as a memorial and use resources from the Victims of Communism Foundation’s K-12 curriculum in classrooms.
Former Virginia state Delegate Mark Cole, a Republican, sponsored a version of the resolution that delegates adopted in 2018. Lawmakers in Arizona, Florida, and Texas are among those in nearly a dozen states that have adopted similar resolutions, with officials in seven other states considering the provisions, according to the foundation.
The Victims of Communism Foundation also has teacher training programs that many parents would find a welcome change from DEI trainings. It also held a conference for educators in the summer of 2023 that included presentations from dissidents from communist countries.
DEI trainings, meanwhile, are unpopular and ineffective at the trainers’ goals of promoting what they call tolerance, and as an application of critical theory’s ideas, DEI has obvious socialist sympathies.
Recognizing the ahistorical and biased content that many educators are using, conservative families and teachers are no longer relying on colleges of education or state departments of education to provide school officials with quality instructional tools.
The nonpartisan group 1776 Unites has created a K-12 curriculum for teachers to use to counter racially biased content such as The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project. The teacher- and parent-led organization Freedom in Education is collecting classic books to provide to schools to meet the growing influence of activist gender organizations. Groups such as the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network regularly send books promoting transgenderism to schools and claim to be active in 33 states.
By providing teacher training programs and curriculums, the Victims of Communism Foundation is meeting a need and giving school personnel resources to counter communist ideas. School board members can demonstrate leadership in their communities by considering the resolution. Choosing curricular materials is part of school board members’ and district leaders’ responsibilities, and officials can send a clear message to educators and students by making the Victims of Communism Foundation’s materials readily available.
President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration displayed a commitment to quality civics instruction through programs such as those of the 1776 Commission, a collection of academics and researchers the administration assembled to study and report on the need to improve civics instruction.
But educators don’t need Washington’s permission to teach historically accurate lessons about America’s founding ideals. Americans’ choice on Tuesday demonstrates that voters are more aligned with policies like the 1776 Commission’s than teaching students they can change their “gender.”
Lawmakers and educators should take note and make the Victims of Communism Memorial Day an annual reminder of America’s commitment to freedom and equality.
