BOULDER, CO (November 4, 2025)—American public education faces an escalating challenge: the rise of Christian nationalism. This movement entwines politics and religion, insisting the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation and should be governed by rigid hierarchies under the Christian God. A new policy brief explores the political and ideological effects this movement has on education policy.

The brief, Christian Nationalism and Educational Policy in the United States, is authored by Kevin Burke of the University of Georgia and Heidi Hadley of Auburn University. It examines the movement’s history, foundation, goals and impact on American politics, society and life, and it provides suggestions for educational policymakers.

Christian nationalists view public education as a battleground for advancing their values, justifying nearly any means to impose Christian priorities in schools. Their influence is evident in book bans, parental choice campaigns, and school board takeovers, supported by right-wing networks and bolstered by recent Supreme Court rulings.

President Trump’s second term, aligned with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, has accelerated this agenda at the federal level, emboldening Republican-controlled states to enact White Christian nationalist education policies. Activists, funded by political action committees and conservative organizations, continue to push school boards toward policies aligned with their ideological vision.

At stake, the report warns, is more than a mere series of isolated policy disputes. These conflicts point to a fundamental struggle over whether the United States will remain a pluralistic democracy or move toward a theocracy rooted in a narrow Christian theology. State lawmakers, it concludes, must help the public understand these stakes by requiring publicly funded schools to disclose which groups of people and what academic content are excluded under such ideologies.

Noting the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk and the subsequent attacks on free speech by the Trump administration, the report's authors said that now is the time when we most need to protect freedom of inquiry while repudiating terror at the hands of the state and individual actors. "This brief was authored in a time of escalating political violence and very real attacks on liberal democracy," Burke said. "Heidi and I hope that Americans can come to resist the fruits of hatred and seek strength in the pluralism of our society."

Find Christian Nationalism and Educational Policy in the United States, by Kevin J. Burke and Heidi Hadley, at:
http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/christian-nationalism

Note from the authors: This brief was authored in a time of escalating political violence and very real attacks on liberal democracy. Heidi and I hope that Americans can come to resist the fruits of hatred and seek strength in the pluralism of our society.