CounterCurrent: Week of 03/31/2025
Today, the National Association of Scholars (NAS) celebrates Congress’s bipartisan vote to move all existing operations of the Department of Education (ED) under the purview of the United States Popcorn Board. We are happy to have prevailed over the efforts of Catherine Lhamon, Ibram X. Kendi, and Robin DiAngelo who would, of course, have preferred that the ED be overhauled and merged with the Department of Justice to form the Department of Public Safety and Community Engagement.
While this development is a great victory for the farm lobby and higher education reformers, there is still much work to be done. And with that, on to today’s news as we wish you an April Fools' Day full of extended quips.
These past two weeks have brought about a spring flurry of legislation to reform civics and higher education. Many of these legislative initiatives which draw on NAS’s work, which have either been enshrined in law or are—hopefully—on their way to a governor’s desk soon.
Ohio Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), also known as the Advance Ohio Education Act, was just signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine. This has been a long time coming. A previous version of SB 1, known as Senate Bill 83, passed the Ohio Senate but did not make it to the floor of the Ohio House in the 2024-2025 legislative session—thus it was reintroduced as SB 1 by Senator Jerry Cirino this session. Some of the language utilized by SB 1 is taken from or based upon the Civics Alliance’s Model Higher Education Code, drafted by NAS. A few of the highlights of the model language include:
- Requirements that colleges and universities receiving state funds commit themselves to free speech and intellectual diversity. (Mission Statement Act)
- Detailed budgetary transparency for each state institution of higher education. (College Finances Act)
SB 1 even prohibits the acceptance of foreign funds from China. Though not inspired directly by NAS model legislation, this is an area of higher education reform which NAS and our membership has long advocated for. We demand transparency and accountability for the gifts received—and strings attached—from foreign countries to our institutions of higher education. H.R. 1048 better known as the “Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaged in Nefarious Transactions” (DETERRENT Act) is another piece of recent legislation that furthers our effort to shine a light on the malign influence of foreign governments on American higher education.
Though colleges and universities are required by law to report foreign gifts totaling more than $250,000 in a calendar year, often, funds go underreported or unreported altogether. NAS has urged the Senate to pass the DETERRENT Act in order to protect American national interests and security. Foreign funding to our colleges and universities is often opaque, specifically from countries diametrically opposed to Western civilization, and even more troublesome when transparency of funding is not enforced using existing law, such as Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. If passed, the DETERRENT Act would amend Section 117,
[T]o lower the threshold from $250,000 to $50,000 for mandatory reporting of foreign gifts to universities. For ‘Countries of Concern’ such as China, Russia, Iran, and other adversaries, the new reporting threshold will stand at a deterring amount of $0. NAS has tracked and long-advocated for lowering the threshold for reporting foreign gifts and closing loopholes for hostile powers like China.
Far from the swamp, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed into law Senate Bill 334 (SB 334), or the “Center for Civic Excellence at Utah State University” bill, which was inspired by the General Education Act (GEA), model legislation drafted by the Ethics & Public Policy Center, the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, and the National Association of Scholars.
The Center of Civic Excellence established at Utah State University by the legislation is tasked with teaching all general education courses, as well as teaching “a year-and-a-half course in Western civilization and an additional one-semester course in American civics.” SB 334 has adapted the GEA to suit the needs of the university—something the model legislation is designed to do—delegating content of the general education courses to the professors at the university. David Randall, director of research at NAS, has cautioned legislators to check up over the next few years on Utah State University to ensure they comply with the spirit and letter of SB 334—a sage piece of wisdom to keep higher education accountable.
NAS has also endorsed Texas House Bill 4561 (HB 4561). This legislation is informed by the Politics Out of Schools Act, drafted by Stanley Kurtz and jointly published by NAS and the Ethics and Public Policy Center. To keep the summary of HB 4561 brief, the National Review outlines the bill and what it means for the public education system:
[HB 4561] prohibits school districts from issuing excused absences for purposes of political protest or lobbying; prohibits teacher training that promotes political student walkouts; and penalizes teachers and administrators that permit, or organize political student walkouts.
We hope it becomes law and inspires other states to pass similar legislation so that our children are no longer used as pawns to prop up teachers unions and the education lobby.
Lastly, as a sort of honorable mention, NAS President Peter Wood has written an article on Columbia University’s long history of radicalism and the shock therapy Trump’s administration is attempting to apply. As Wood says, it is rare but not unusual for NAS to critique a specific college or university for their actions or policies—but it is all the more poignant for an institution like Columbia, a leading university with such a long history of educating America's leaders.
Our critiques of colleges and universities are meant to hold institutions accountable for poor leadership, poor curricula, commitment to divisive ideology, and more, and always include effective recommendations. Columbia’s “descent into chaos” began long before the anti-Semitic riots on campus after October 7, 2023. The same could be said for many other colleges and universities. The current chaos is not new—it has been deeply rooted by activists and radicals hired, admitted, and sustained by these institutions over the course of many years. For this reason, NAS believes Columbia cannot be gradually reformed by internal pressure. America’s fifth-oldest institution of higher learning needs external pressure. It will not return to its former standing without the shock therapy of federal reform measures.
We are thankful for the massive support of readers like you. Without your persistent advocacy, whistleblowing, and financial support the work we do at NAS to reform education would be impossible. So celebrate these wins as they come, you deserve it.
Until next week.
Photo by chase4concept on Adobe Stock
