The U.S. Department of Education's “History Rocks! Trail to Independence” tour is scheduled to come to Genoa-Kingston High School this week. But some staff and community members are concerned about a lack of transparency and safety with the event. WNIJ News Director Jenna Dooley sat down with education reporter Peter Medlin to get the details.
Jenna Dooley (JD): Let's start with, can you explain what this tour is?
Peter Medlin (PM): Yes. This is part of the department's America 250th anniversary celebration. As a part of that, they created this group called the America 250 Civics Education Coalition. It’s the Department of Education alongside this coalition of conservative groups like Turning Point USA, Prager U, and the Heritage Foundation.
For this tour, they're visiting one school per state. The Education Secretary Linda McMahon has been going to different schools across the country. They've been bringing speakers to discuss “student leadership, civic engagement, and American history.” I've seen videos of her doing trivia competitions with students and throwing T-shirts into the crowd.
(JD): Is Linda McMahon going to be at Genoa-Kingston's event?
(PM): We don't know! The event is coming up, and we don't know yet. An administrator from Genoa Kingston said that the Department of Education will only be having their historian present at the event. We've also heard rumors that Erica Kirk, who is the CEO of Turning Point USA, and, of course, wife of Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed at a Turning Point event at a school. Again, that's just a rumor, but we really don't know who the national-level speakers are going to be at this event.
(JD): One of the concerns the district's teachers’ union has is that there are all of these unknowns?
(PM): Yeah, they're talking about a lack of transparency. They say students and staff just found out about this last week, pretty much when the whole community found out about it, even though this has been planned for the past couple weeks. It’s odd because, again, this is a huge event. They're the one school in Illinois chosen for this tour, and yet there hasn't been a lot of promotion for it. There hasn't been much opportunity for feedback at school board meetings. There have been protests at other stops along this tour and other events have been canceled because of pushback in the community.
(JD): Can you tell us more about concerns locally?
(PM): Safety is the other piece of this. This is an event that's only for staff, students, and parents. The sign-up sheet for this event was on a Google Form. There were some concerns from the union that anyone could sign up, that you just had to put your name and they weren't checking if you had a student in the district. It looks like that has changed since I went back and I looked at it. It does ask for your student’s name.
Now, a part of this is also that the event is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., which is when classes get out. Buses don't get to the school for the next half hour. So, even though it's an optional event, students who don't want to go are kind of stuck in or around the school. Also, of course, Erica Kirk is rumored to be speaking. They're thinking back about how Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a Turning Point USA event at a school, and so they want more safety measures.
(JD): With all of that, what does the union want changed?
(PM): First and foremost, they want the event pushed back an hour, which would allow buses to come and pick people up before the event starts. Also, they want more transparency. They want to get more notice of events like this if they happen in the future.
(JD): Do we know why the group chose Genoa-Kingston?
(PM): No, not really, not that we've heard so far. Again, they're the only school in the state that was chosen for this. We know it’s organized with the school's “Club America,” which is a Turning Point USA chapter. There are plenty of schools across the state who have that club, so it's not immediately clear why Genoa-Kingston (was chosen).
(JD): What else should people know about this "History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour?"
(PM): This America 250 Civics Education Coalition, even though it is a partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and the Education Secretary, this is a partisan group that involves groups like Turning Point and the Heritage Foundation.
In the launch video from when the organization started last year, they talked about how “American education was once a shining light guiding generations, built on faith, heritage, patriotism. But over the past 60-70 years, that brilliance has been dimmed," and that "A great institution has been crumbled from within; overtaken by those who teach hatred for America, false revisionist history, and division.” So, that’s the coalition putting this together.
One other thing we should note is I am going to try to be there. So far, they're saying that media is not going to be allowed at the event, but we will be trying to talk with people about what the event actually is.
(JD): Thanks, Peter.
