In a recent Fox News segment, anchors highlighted what they described as a troubling “discovery”: the Zinn Education Project’s influence over public education and its partnership with the National Education Association (NEA), one of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions. While this revelation may alarm some viewers, it is neither new nor particularly surprising to those who have followed the steady erosion of traditional values in our schools. The segment overlooked the Zinn Education Project’s infiltration into private education and failed to address its most egregious lessons, which go far beyond mere ideological slant to outright anti-American propaganda.
Founded in 2008, the Zinn Education Project has systematically flooded classrooms across the country with far-left lesson plans that distort history and promote radical agendas. These materials expertly meet contemporary pedagogical standards while framing the United States not as a beacon of freedom but as a source of global oppression. For instance, lessons questioning Christopher Columbus’s legacy—such as “Columbus: Hero or Villain?”—have been circulating since the early 2000s, invariably portraying him as a villain and fueling efforts to abolish Columbus Day. Yet this topic pales in comparison to more disturbing content, including lessons that label America as the true “terrorist” nation, argue that U.S. treatment of Native Americans and African slaves inspired Hitler’s genocidal policies, and even advocate for the abolition of capitalism and the imprisonment of political leaders. Such narratives were never meant to encourage critical thinking, but to indoctrinate young minds with a one-sided, revisionist view that undermines national pride and unity.
The admiration among educators for Howard Zinn was a primary catalyst for the founding of The Locke Society. As the Zinn Education Project’s influence expanded, it sparked a surge in anti-American rhetoric among youth, often amplified by activist educators eager to reshape society. Our organization exists to counter this trend, promoting curricula rooted in historical accuracy and respect for America’s founding ideals. We have written extensively about the Zinn Education Project and will continue to do so, as its effectiveness in disseminating leftist materials remains unmatched by any opposition.
The project’s partnership with the NEA, formalized in 2020 through initiatives like “Teach Truth Day,” is often overstated. In reality, it means little in the grand scheme of Zinn’s reach. Over 176,000 teachers have downloaded more than 765,000 lessons, many in conservative-leaning red states where local governments have attempted—and largely failed—to ban such ideology from schools. Zinn’s influence predates this alliance, embedding itself in educational culture as far back as the 1990s, with references even appearing in popular media like the film Good Will Hunting and the HBO series The Sopranos. Far more concerning are its alignments with organizations like Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, which have proven instrumental in mainstreaming these materials. Additionally, bodies such as the National Council for the Social Studies have played a key role in normalizing revisionist history, allowing Zinn’s narratives to proliferate organically through teacher circles and to their students.
The segment’s focus on new legislation aiming to abolish the NEA’s national charter misses the mark entirely. Dismantling teachers’ unions is not the solution; it would do nothing to stem the flow of leftist curricula into classrooms. The recognized purpose of unions has nothing to do with curricula, but with technicalities including administrative overreach, ensuring contract adherence, and securing adequate planning time.
Similarly, the spotlight on the “new” Teacher Freedom Alliance overlooks its roots: it is a project of the Freedom Foundation, established in 1991, with elements of the “teacher” alliance traceable back to 2023 on their own website. True reform requires addressing the ideological sources head-on (i.e. teachers and educational organizations), not targeting teacher unions on inconsequential matters.
Media outlets need not solicit comments from the NEA or the Zinn Education Project to validate these concerns—the Zinn Education Project’s expanding footprint speaks for itself. As conservatives, we must remain vigilant: the battle for our children’s education is about who defines America’s past and, by extension, its future. The Zinn Education Project’s role as a lightning rod in this debate underscores the urgency of supporting alternatives like The Locke Society, which champions freedom in every classroom by supporting freedom-loving teachers with the resources they need to be successful.
To learn more about the Zinn Education Project, explore the following articles from The Locke Society:
https://lockesociety.org/destroying-the-us-one-lesson-at-a-time-part-5-zinn-education-project/
https://lockesociety.org/zinn-ed-project-covid-lesson-send-trump-to-jail-and-abolish-capitalism/
https://lockesociety.org/zinn-ed-project-has-students-label-the-u-s-terrorist-on-9-11-anniversary/
https://lockesociety.org/rioters-and-looters-are-students-of-zinn/
https://lockesociety.org/zinns-america-rewriting-history/
https://lockesociety.org/woke-is-not-dead-stop-pretending-radical-leftists-follow-laws/
https://lockesociety.org/how-teacher-resources-are-covering-the-2024-election/
https://lockesociety.org/the-people-behind-the-current-curriculum/
