By Sunayana Prabhu
COLTS NECK – U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon visited Cedar Drive Middle School Friday, Dec. 5, to kickstart a nationwide “History Rocks!” tour she is spearheading with a federal coalition. The visit drew protests from some teachers, parents and advocacy groups who gathered outside the school, claiming the tour is a façade to inject extreme right-wing ideology into neutral public-school settings.
McMahon’s visit came two weeks after the Colts Neck School Board adopted a contentious Parental Bill of Rights policy that now aligns the district with the federal civic education program developed by the Civics Education Coalition, a group of more than 50 organizations that includes Turning Point USA, the America First Policy Institute and Moms for Liberty. Critics argue the Parental Bill of Rights, adopted Nov. 19, promotes an agenda tied to far-right ideologies. The policy allows parental access to information, particularly notification pertaining to any gender identity changes requested by students, which several LGBTQ+ groups have said can impact a child’s well-being. At the time, board president Angelique Volpe said she wears the label of right-wing extremism “proudly” if it means “keeping parents in the heart of our kids’ education.”
McMahon’s visit to the Colts Neck school put the largely conservative district at the center of a broader state and national fight over the role of politics, religion and ideology in public education. As part of the tour launch, McMahon visited two other schools last week (one in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware). Cedar Drive is the sole New Jersey school on the tour. According to a U.S. Department of Education (DOE) press release, the tour is tied to the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.
Early in the morning Dec. 5, local and county law enforcement stood outside the school while McMahon addressed an assembly of sixth- through eighth-grade students inside. At the same time, protesters outside held signs that read “Get Extremists Out of Our Schools,” “Most Corrupt?” and “Hands Off Schools,” among others.
Protesters, Some Media Barredfrom ‘Special Meeting’
Protesters, Some Media Barred
from ‘Special Meeting’
Parents were notified of McMahon’s visit in a Dec. 2 letter from Superintendent MaryJane Garibay. Some chose to keep their children home from school Friday.
Several said they attempted to attend the “special meeting,” only to be blocked at the door by law enforcement officers; school staff offered no explanation beyond direction from the superintendent’s office.
“If the board calls a public meeting, you should be allowed in,” said Alison DeNoia, a Colts Neck resident and former school board member who was denied entry.
“I don’t understand how the public can be barred,” said retired Freehold teacher Phyllis Spinelli.
Despite being notified by the school board by email about the event, which was announced as a “special meeting,” reporters from multiple outlets, including The Two River Times, Asbury Park Press and The New York Times, were also turned away. Some questioned whether the exclusion complied with New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act.
Colts Neck School District officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment by press time.
Concerns about Curriculum and Ideology
While organizers described the assembly as a nonpartisan civics celebration, protesters said the list of partners in the coalition supporting the school tour tells a different story.
“Normally, it would be exciting to have the federal government, the Secretary of Education, come to a school district to celebrate all the wonderful things that Colts Neck School District does,” DeNoia said. “This is being funded by extreme right-wing folks and that’s problematic for me and for parents in this community who have decided not to send their kids to school today.”
In the DOE’s release, “History Rocks!” is described as “a key component” of the America 250 celebrations. The DOE said the Civics Education Coalition is dedicated to advancing civic education and engaging students in conversations about liberty and citizenship and events that define the American story. McMahon’s school visits aim to showcase high-quality history and civics instruction that brings American principles to life.
However, some fear this curriculum serves to indoctrinate certain biases.
Julie Flynn, a college professor and a congressional candidate who ran against U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4), said federal officials “are teaching a whitewashed version of our founding. I’m here because it’s important to fight against our children being propagandized to.”
The American Revolution “isn’t just about the actual war,” Flynn said. “It’s about constantly working for a better, more equal, more prosperous country to make things better for all of us, instead of just for billionaires. And that’s not what they’re teaching these kids in the school today. They’re using this stuff from these far-right groups to tell kids that there is one way to look at the country, and it’s their way, and that’s not education.”
“You have to have an educated populace in order to have a democracy,” said Spinelli, the retired teacher, paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote. The DOE is “trying to present ideologies that are just not appropriate in public school,” she said, criticizing McMahon as “unqualified” and “uninformed.”
Her “whole approach to education, the idea of taking money away from public schools and funneling it to religious institutions, is completely antithetical to what public education is all about,” Spinelli said.
Protester Jacob Bradley said he was concerned about the involvement of groups like Turning Point, Moms for Liberty and Priests for Life.
“Lord knows what the hell they’re wanting to do in a middle school,” Bradley said. “I don’t like religious fundamentalists grooming children.”
According to an Instagram post from NJ.com, whose reporter was one of two allowed access to the assembly, McMahon insisted the tour was not political. “Every citizen needs to understand this is the greatest country in the world. There’s no politics in that,” she said.
Politicians Speak Out
Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who won the Nov. 4 election by 14 percentage points, called McMahon’s visit “entirely inappropriate.” In a Dec. 5 statement, she said the assembly “politicizes New Jersey public schools with a mandatory program sponsored by far-right organizations that promote an extreme MAGA agenda.” She also accused the federal DOE of “defunding public schools, robbing New Jerseyans of our tax dollars, and jeopardizing our children’s future.”
Colts Neck voters overwhelmingly backed Republican Jack Ciattarelli in this year’s gubernatorial race; out of the 5,165 votes cast, 71.5% were for Ciattarelli.
Sherrill’s comments echoed statements on the McMahon visit from Garden State Equality, the New Jersey Education Association and state Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11).
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, who represents Colts Neck, did not respond to a request for comment before press time.
Some Vow to Fight
Protesters said McMahon’s visit has galvanized residents who feel shut out of decisions impacting Colts Neck schools.
“A visit from a sitting Secretary of Education doesn’t bother us,” said Kyler Dineen, founder of NJ Voters for Church and State Separation. “What bothers us is that she is here to promote a curriculum that is developed by a consortium of organizations that have very clear political and religious motivations,” he said, referring to Turning Point, the Heritage Foundation, CatholicVote and Priests for Life.
“I don’t know what Priests for Life is doing, getting involved with civics-based education for our kids,” Dineen said.
“That’s the main concern.”
Dineen launched an online petition called “Keep Propaganda Out of Classrooms,” which he said has received hundreds of signatures, including several dozen from Colts Neck residents opposing McMahon’s visit. It calls for assurances that the board of education will reject any curriculum that pushes a particular political or religious viewpoint.
The group will be rallying at the next regular meeting of the Colts Neck School Board Dec. 17.
The article originally appeared in the December 11 – 17, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
