Recover the Republic Through Classical Education
Editor's Note
Every republic teaches something to the young, whether it admits it or not. The question is never if we educate, but what we elevate, what we honor, and what we shame. America stands at a hinge moment between renewal and decline, and the regime that wins the mind of Gen Z wins the century. Classical education, as Jordan Adams reminds us here, does not simply transmit knowledge; it transmits civilization. If we wish for self-government to endure, we must recover the sources that made it possible.
American education is in crisis. Student performance has sunk to record lows. Distrust of America’s public education system is at an all-time high. Public schools are bleeding students as enrollment rapidly erodes.
All the while, Gen Z — which moved sharply to the right to support Donald Trump in the 2024 election and which has been the rocket fuel propelling Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA — still has its youngest members in America’s high schools and even middle schools. But even now, we’re starting to see Gen Z support slip for the President and MAGA in general.
If it was doubtful before, it’s now clear as day: Gen Z will be the generation that determines whether America endures for our lifetimes or capitulates to the decline that has foiled all great civilizations of history around their sesquicentennial mark. And, as we speak, Gen Z students are still sitting in America’s classrooms.
If Republicans are serious about saving the country, they will recognize the moment we’re in. In general, that means delivering for Millennials and especially Gen Z; in particular, they must deliver on education — for the children of Millennials who are now students and for the last group of Gen Z who are still students in our schools.
Fortunately, it’s not a mystery what they’ll have to do.
Yes, Red states and the Trump Administration must address the woke and the leftist ideology. This is par for the course. But this is all downstream from the real cause of our public education crisis: progressive education.
In brief, the current state of our schools is the result of a model of education that discounted students actually knowing and understanding things, that cast aspersions on authority figures like students’ teachers and parents and those who have come before them, that viewed students first as social problem-solvers and then as outright political pawns and partisan activists, and that built an apparatus of gatekeeping and grift that repelled not only conservatives but also the most talented and capable individuals from becoming teachers and education leaders. In this vacuous, politically charged environment, woke was injected and thrived, reinforcing this self-sabotage in a vicious cycle.
So tackle the woke and actually enforce transparency and reforms (instead of presuming passing a law or policy will magically fix everything without any oversight). But Republicans must do more. They must reform education to remove the conditions that allow woke to flourish, and that fundamentally means returning education to forming wise, virtuous, and highly capable future citizens. It means focusing on academics and character. It means casting a vision, a return to what school was meant to be.
To deliver on education and save the country, Republicans need look no further than how our Founding Fathers were educated, what they said about education, and what parents are demanding today: Classical Education.
Classical Education Meets the Moment
For one, the demand for classical education is historic. It is also not a “top-down” fad but a parent-driven, “bottom-up” movement. Moreover, classical education demand is expected to continue to grow at a rapid rate. Thus far, it’s mainly a charter or private school phenomenon.
But declining enrollment and reckless spending of Biden-era handouts to bloat district bureaucracies have public schools hurtling toward a fiscal cliff, shuttering schools in the process. With classical education, public school systems now have a choice (and an incentive): attend to the demand in classical education or else lose out on students and the funding that comes with them. For those who see the writing on the wall, classical education should be a no-brainer enrollment magnet.
Second, classical education is nonpartisan. It is true that it is more common in conservative circles, but plenty of left-of-center families and education leaders are also involved in the movement. Call them “Kennedy Democrats,” what they see is that classical education is graduating students who are skilled, capable, and responsible, bedrock American principles that only recently have been seen as “conservative.”
Classical education is the nonpartisan but pro-America education every American child deserves.
What Is Classical Education?
There are three main ideas behind classical education that show why it is the key to rescuing America’s public schools: classroom management, teaching method, and curriculum.
In classical education, classrooms are managed through many procedures and few rules. The teacher is the authority and administrators enforce disciplinary expectations with the goals of minimizing distractions from poor behavior and preserving an environment in which students can learn. Students receive real consequences coupled with encouragement to correct behavior in the future. Victim-oppressor narratives are replaced with virtue, respect, and personal responsibility as the bedrock principles and goals for classroom management and classroom culture. As my consulting partner and I have termed it, it’s a return to “Responsibility-Based Discipline.”
When it comes to the instructional method, or what eduwonks call pedagogy, classical education utilizes practices and strategies that can be traced from ancient Athens to the American public schools that taught the victors of the Second World War: America’s Greatest Generation. The teacher leads instruction by conveying a body of knowledge and modeling skills. He or she speaks directly to students and asks an abundance of questions to elicit engagement and to check for understanding.
This means that most classrooms are arranged with the class facing forward and the teacher at the head of the room. Most instruction is conducted through whole-class teaching. Tasks and content are broken down into discrete steps with frequent opportunities to practice, correct mistakes, and form understanding. Reading, writing, and class discussion are woven throughout all subject areas and serve as the principal occasions for critical thinking.
Curriculum — or what students learn about — is the area most associated with classical education and is distinguished by a few core qualities.
Classical curriculum is content-based and knowledge-rich. Students know events, dates, stories, math facts, speeches, quotations, historical people, phonograms, and other information as ready stores from which to draw for future reading and critical thinking. The sheer depth and breadth of learning that takes place in a classical curriculum is astonishing to those who first learn about it or see it in action.
Classical curriculum also uses the test of time to decide what to read in literature, focusing on “the best that has been thought and said” and on individuals and events that had an outsized impact on the world in which students live. This means prioritizing the great books of classic literature that have stood the test of time, as well as primary sources and biographies of great figures in history.
In science and math, classical curriculum seeks to build conceptual understanding while reinforcing the underlying math facts and scientific knowledge necessary to engage in such higher-level thinking. The arts pride themselves on both study of theory and history and practice in the classroom, while physical education focuses on personal physical fitness combined with character education.
Finally, classical curriculum seeks to build shared cultural literacy, a robust knowledge of the American tradition of free self-government, and responsible and reflective citizenship. This means that students study the American Founding and American history and that the curriculum spirals through the grade levels to ensure long-term retention of the stories and principles on which America was founded. It also helps students understand the American story by studying worldwide contributions to American history and culture.
Public Schools and Classical Education
Local, parent-driven demand for classical education is growing at a record rate and shows little sign of slowing down. Charter and private schools are seizing the opportunity to retain and grow enrollment in response. But if we’re talking about saving America by saving Gen Z students and the school-age children of Millennials, this will not be enough. Is there anything public schools can do to attract families to their district through classical education while also improving student outcomes? The answer is, “Yes.”
Public schools can evaluate their current curricula and practices to identify opportunities to incorporate best practices from classical education. In this way, classical materials and strategies are added as tools in the teacher’s toolkit.
Districts may also create classical education tracks within existing schools or within subjects such as English Language Arts and Social Studies. This gives families access to classical learning without leaving their home school and allows teachers to observe the model in operation.
A third option is for districts to establish Classical Magnet Schools, especially by repurposing low-enrollment campuses where parent surveys indicate strong interest from in-district and neighboring families.
As I’ve written elsewhere, however, saving America’s schools will require a model. One district or school system needs to take the plunge and reform itself around classical education. Doing so can serve as a model for other districts that see the appeal and importance of classical education but don’t want to go first. Fortunately, more districts and systems are primed to do just that. In Florida, for example, the state has created a classical educator certification route (though they fell short of giving it equal footing in public schools) and this fall Miami-Dade County Public Schools launched what is believed to be the first public Classical Magnet School in the nation.
All indications suggest that classical education is not simply another educational fad. The demand is real and the growth is not letting up. Traditional public schools are primed to meet this demand, boost enrollment, and be responsive to parents and local communities by thinking outside the box and introducing classical education options to their districts.
For the Trump Administration, red-state leaders, and conservative school board members, the time is ripe to lead. To save America we must serve Gen Z. To serve Gen Z, we must make schools what they were meant to be. Only in so doing will we preserve America as she was founded to be.