The Defense Department’s school system for the children of U.S. service members is a source of pride for many military parents. But a small and growing chorus of protest, like walkouts and missed classes, underscores increasing concern that these schools are being used as a political proving ground – and that education for American military families will suffer.
The Trump administration is rooting out books from Pentagon-run schools that include themes of diversity, racism, and women’s studies – topics it describes as divisive. On the heels of similar directives to remove hundreds of books from the shelves of U.S. service academies, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this month also ordered these military universities, like those commonly referred to as West Point and the Naval Academy, to end affirmative action measures.
But some U.S. troops — who are also school parents — say bans on literature, curriculum, and certain clubs in Pentagon-run elementary and high schools violate First Amendment rights under the Constitution. These are the same rights that they, as soldiers, have sworn to protect, they say.
Why We Wrote This
Defense Department schools for service members’ children are removing books the Trump administration doesn’t like. Some military parents are objecting, saying that will hurt education.
Last month, a group of parents filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon and Secretary Hegseth, alleging that the military is “quarantining” library books in a manner that amounts to censorship in the education of kids who, because of their parents’ overseas military work, have limited school choices.
“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘Our diversity is our strength,’” Secretary Hegseth told U.S. troops in his first official town hall meeting, in February. “I think our strength is our unity; our strength is our shared purpose – regardless of our background.”
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