Education and American Ideals

America’s founding ideals, and the way we teach the history that undergirds them, are being scrutinized today more than ever before. Forming rising generations into responsible citizens who properly understand their rights and duties is an essential task for securing the future of our republic.  

EPPC’s Education and American Ideals Project brings together the work of several of our scholars to provide intellectually rigorous and practically effective conservative leadership on the pressing issues we face. These scholars advance our mission to build and sustain a society where families and faith communities flourish and where the traditional American way of life thrives.  

EPPC Senior Fellow Stanley Kurtz is at the front of the national pushback against indoctrination in K–12 schools and on college campuses. He has established himself as the nation’s foremost critic of politicized “action civics” and is among the most influential opponents of Critical Race Theory. Stanley’s work on education is followed widely by the general public, especially through his contributions to National Review Online, as well as by legislators and policymakers across the country who seek out his expert guidance on keeping public policy and public schools free of “woke” trends. Stanley has been consulted on his model legislation on CRT, action civics and other topics by legislators, governors, or state attorneys general in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, as well as by policy experts and influencers in many other states, and he has testified on education issues before Congress and many state legislatures.

EPPC Senior Fellow Henry Olsen, author of the pathbreaking 2017 book The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism, writes daily columns in the Washington Post advancing a sound vision for the conservative movement grounded in America’s working class. Henry’s insights are followed and respected by leading contenders for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and he is regularly consulted by congressional offices in DC. As a result, Henry’s ideas are helping to shape the debate within conservatism and the future of the Republican Party.  

EPPC Henry Grunwald Senior Fellow Lance Morrow, a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal and City Journal, draws on his rich career to write probing pieces on journalism, politics, and American culture. A longtime, award-winning essayist with TIME magazine, his work focuses on the moral and ethical dimensions of public events, including freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and political correctness on American campuses, with a view to the future consequences of such suppressions.

Program Publications

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Saving Citizenship in Ohio from Leftist Indoctrination

Stanley Kurtz

The Ohio State University motto is “education for citizenship.” It’s not a forgotten relic, either. On the contrary, OSU’s administration…

Articles

National Review / July 29, 2026

Stanley Kurtz

A venerable institution is taken over by leftists who loathe America, free enterprise, religion, and the founding ideals of the…

Articles

National Review / July 18, 2026

The Arizona Two-Step May Save Your University

Stanley Kurtz

Most people have heard of the Texas two-step, but did you know that there’s an Arizona two-step too? The dances are cousins, yet…

Articles

National Review Online / May 18, 2026

A Conversation with Stanley Kurtz: Why Students Must Read Whole Books

Stanley Kurtz

Reading whole books in English class can help reverse America’s declining literacy rates.

Interviews

Restoring the West / May 12, 2026

Chicago’s May Day Action Civics Nightmare

Stanley Kurtz

Are you concerned that the torrent of leftist rhetoric making President Trump out to be an authoritarian, a tyrant, and…

Articles

National Review Online / May 1, 2026

How Progressives Stole Our Schools, and How to Take Them Back

Stanley Kurtz

The most powerful steps we could take to wrest public schools from the hands of the woke would be for…

Articles

National Review Online / April 23, 2026

A Western Civ Comeback in Texas and Idaho?

Stanley Kurtz

Last month’s Western-civilization-themed address by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference was timely in more ways…

Articles

National Review Online / March 23, 2026