Before becoming the U.S. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth wrote half-a-dozen books. The only one that didn’t deal with military affairs and American warriors was his 2023 “Battle for the American Mind,” in which Hegseth and co-writer David Goodwin addressed the failures of American education. It discussed the century-long progressive movement that nearly buried classical Christian education, the recent critical race and sex theories introduced into public schools, and the horrible results that followed and are ongoing.

As if to underscore this thesis, the National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) released “the nation’s report card” on Sept. 9, 2025, showing that math and reading scores of high school seniors have tumbled to record lows. Only 22% of these students tested proficient in math, only 35% in reading.

Analyzing these scores, retired teacher Larry Sand relates that some school systems, in attempts to reverse this failure, are seeking to lower proficiency qualifications. Meanwhile, as Sand points out, public education costs keep skyrocketing. In New York, for instance, costs will likely rise to $41,000 per student next year.

Currently, changes in many of our public schools designed to better equip students for the workplace and the world seem unlikely. In “Battle for the American Mind,” however, Hegseth and Goodwin offer an approach for turning around this abysmal excuse for education, suggesting an insurgency like that which Hegseth studied during his years in the military.

The first stage of this peaceful insurgency is well underway, with homeschooling and private schools constantly growing, especially since Covid’s school lockdowns. Though still only a fraction of the students enrolled in public schools, these rebels against the system are growing in numbers and are, in this instance, the insurgents.

Phase Two should bring measures like isolating and attacking teachers’ unions, which is, as Hegseth and Goodwin explain, “a tactic Saul Alinsky explains in ‘Rules for Radicals.’ The unions are the problem, not the teachers.” One key element, already underway in many places, is “to implement universal educational tax credits at the state and federal level (tax credits are preferred over vouchers, in that the former are paid by parents whereas the latter is money directly from the government.)”

In Phase Three, which Hegseth and Goodwin acknowledge is decades away, a “classical Christian education would provide the core of America’s education….” To many of us, this objective seems an impossibility, but it’s the authors’ final target.

Hegseth and Goodwin score important points throughout their call to arms. Given the advanced decay in our public schools, for instance, why do Mom and Dad continue to send their children into these classrooms, even while some of them are doing battle against this failed system? Hegseth and Goodwin urge these parents to follow in the footsteps of countless others who have turned to options like homeschooling, learning pods and co-ops, religious schools, and private academies, aiming always to equip students with a classical Christian education.

So, what can be done now?

The answer is both simple and difficult. First, parents who are dissatisfied with public schools should seek alternatives, which often means spending more money on education and drastically revising work schedules. If those alternatives prove impossible, then they might devote time each day to educating their children at home after school hours.

If their sons and daughters are weak in reading, for example, it’s time to teach phonics 15 minutes or so a day. If some oddball math program is in play at school, it’s time to go back to basics like memorizing the times table and using traditional math approaches to algebra and geometry. If the school is neglecting American history, or teaching falsehoods about our past, then parents can respond by breaking out histories, biographies, and videos that entertain and teach the American past.

When given the opportunity, those same parents can vote for such measures as educational tax credits, encouraging others to do the same, even if their own children must remain in public schools. They can encourage their pastors and church administrators to stress the importance of Christian education and to consider founding a church school. Parents can also take action themselves, found book clubs, for instance, where their children and their children’s friends read classics ranging from “Tom Sawyer” to “Great Expectations” and then gather together to discuss the book.

Near the end of “Battle for the American Mind,” Hegseth relates a conversation he had with his plumber, “Joe.” When their conversation turned to education, Joe told Hegseth that he and his wife had taken their second-grader out of school because of New Jersey’s mask mandates and had formed a homeschool pod with other parents who had done the same.

“I’ll never forget what he told me,” Hegseth writes. ‘If you don’t play their game, you don’t have to play by their rules.’”

When the playing field and the rules are stacked against winning, it’s time to take the ball and find another game.

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The republication of this article is made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal.

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