2026-09-29T09:00:29.274Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
在美国儿童在阅读、数学等核心科目上普遍吃力之际，某一学区的学生在联邦 mandated 考试中的得分始终高于全国平均水平。
然而，由五角大楼运营、为全球约6.6万名美军子女提供教育服务的国防部教育活动局（DoDEA），正在美国国防部长皮特·赫格斯的推动下进行全面改革。
今年秋季学生返校前几周，一份指令下发，提醒学校管理人员必须确保数百本被国防部封禁的书籍继续不得进入教室、不得上架图书馆书架。
许多被禁书籍涉及种族、性别歧视和LGBTQ+议题，其中包括热门漫画小说系列《心跳漏一拍》（Heartstopper）以及《女权主义者宣言：粉碎少女时代指南》（Feminist AF: A Guide to Crushing Girlhood）。
据一位向CNN透露文件的消息人士透露，部分工作人员还收到一份备忘录，警告称“必须将所有实体副本从学生可接触范围内移除，存放至安全地点”。备忘录称，必须“100%遵守规定”，五角大楼将“监督合规情况”。
尽管针对禁书的诉讼正在联邦法院审理中，但这已是赫格斯推动落实保守派教育优先事项清单的最新举措之一。
五角大楼已紧急围绕“古典教育”打造全新课程体系——这一运动主张推崇西方经典，得到赫格斯、特朗普盟友以及保守派教育团体的支持——同时还将扩大“择校权”，这也是右翼保守派教育议程的另一目标，旨在惠及军人家庭。
批评人士认为，由赫格斯领导的五角大楼正将该学区作为有争议教育方法的试验场，作为其持续文化战争的一部分，并对审查制度以及限制儿童学习内容的做法表示担忧。
“国防部教育活动局的历史闪光点在于，我们为保卫国家的军人子女提供优质教育，”汤姆·布雷迪说道，他于2014年至2024年担任该局局长。
“无论哪位总统或哪届政府上台，这一点都不曾改变，”他表示，“因此，得知甚至想到他们正将国防部教育活动局用作当前政府理念的试验场，我深感不安。”
不过，更多变革的迹象已经显现，进一步加剧了不确定性。
据本月早些时候国防部教育活动局官员发给各学校的备忘录显示，从明年1月起，教师必须在课堂上阅读两份“主任推荐阅读书单”上的小说。CNN获取到的这份备忘录提醒工作人员，必须严格遵循华盛顿总部提供的与这些书籍相关的教案。据一位知情消息人士透露，一项极不寻常的规定是，教师不得修改或补充教案内容。
“老师们都知道变革即将到来，但他们不知道会是什么、如何推进、何时落地。归根结底，他们只想尽全力教好学生，但在如此多未知因素面前，他们很难知道该如何做，”该人士说道。
一位五角大楼官员表示，该学区“始终致力于为所有军人子女提供尽可能优质的教育和机会”，并将新增的古典教育和公民教育重点描述为课程的“拓展”，旨在强化“批判性思维和沟通技能”。
国防部教育活动局在全球约12个国家以及美国多个州和领地运营着约160所学校，覆盖从学前教育到高中的各阶段学生。
尽管该学区历来学术表现优异，但右翼人士称该体系过于“觉醒”，抱怨其课程宣扬左翼意识形态。他们还认为，该局管理层将家长排除在子女教育之外——这也是他们对美国多数教育体系的控诉。
在赫格斯的领导下，盟友已被安插至关键岗位以解决这些问题，其中一些人取代了在该局任职多年的职业联邦雇员。
退役陆军准将安东尼·塔塔——一位颇具争议的前福克斯新闻撰稿人、前公立学校管理者——以国防部负责人员与战备事务的副部长身份监管该学区。在这一职位上，他曾驳斥国防部教育活动局的高考试分数不可靠，并批评该学区过于官僚化。
蒂芙尼·霍本，一位择校与古典教育倡导者，于今年年初出任该学区的教育主管。赫格斯将保罗·克拉夫特——取代了一名职业行政官员出任国防部教育活动局局长的前公立学校官员——描述为将五角大楼学校“重新定位为面向爱国主义价值观和古典学习”的“合适领导者”。
而艾米·海伍德，国防部教育活动局最突出的批评者之一，如今担任塔塔办公室的高级教育顾问。作为一名保守派教育活动家兼军属，她声称学校已被进步主义信念腐蚀，并呼吁为军人家庭增加家长参与度以及 homeschooling 补贴。
海伍德在给CNN的一份声明中表示：“我亲身见证了透明课程、充分的家长权利以及可衡量的学术卓越的至关重要性。”她还表示，自己“为支持各项改革感到自豪，这些改革将恢复问责制、扩大教育选择，并确保我们的军人子女获得配得上父母牺牲的教育”。
今年6月，学区官员公布了一项雄心勃勃的计划，旨在重塑国防部教育活动局的课程，包括一份在各学校推行古典教育的蓝图。
首批实施的举措之一是今年秋季开设一门新的在线课程，主题为西方历史，宣传为“全新古典教育课程”。
克拉夫特曾表示，预计该课程将在明年扩展至线下课堂。
然而，一些教育专家认为，赫格斯眼中的古典教育——这一由来已久的传统——已从几个世纪前的博雅教育原则中窃取了概念，转而宣扬具有排他性的观点。
“古典教育运动最初旨在纠正工业教育让孩子们偏离阅读、写作和数学学习的现状，”天主教大学助理教授阿妮卡·普拉瑟说道，她是该教学法的支持者。但她表示，赫格斯所支持的观点已将其转变为“这种欧洲中心主义的教育哲学，如今正得到我国主要领导人之一的支持”。
“他们已经劫持了这一理念，”她说道。
此次课程改革之际，赫格斯正推动在包括公立学校在内的整个美军体系内削减与多元化、公平性和包容性（DEI）相关的项目或举措。
纪念妇女节和黑人历史月的活动及材料已被禁止超过一年。
特朗普政府限制跨性别权利的举措也延伸至了该学区。根据法庭文件，国防部教育活动局的学生不得在年鉴中使用任何可能宣扬“性别意识形态”的“视觉描绘或书面内容”，例如跨性别骄傲旗帜或相关诗歌、引语。
新标准
在2022年出版的《为美国精神而战》一书中，赫格斯主张，植根于基督教的古典教育运动是让儿童获得“拯救美国的战斗机会”的唯一途径。
他与保守派知识分子戴维·古德温合著了这本书，古德温领导着一个倡导古典基督教学校的组织。
该书还呼吁扩大代金券计划，为将子女送入此类学校的家庭提供资助，并推行古典学习测试（CLT）——一项在基督教学校中流行的大学入学考试。该考试由私营公司古典学习倡议公司（Classic Learning Initiatives）拥有，该公司称其旨在推广“传统教育”。古德温同时担任该考试的顾问。
从2027学年开始，美国三大军事学院将接受该考试成绩作为入学申请材料。这三所学院均由五角大楼运营，但不属于国防部教育活动局管辖。
本月，美国海军学院招生办公室向数十名国会工作人员发送了有关CLT的信息，其中包括该考试公司制作的宣传页，将该考试与ACT和SAT进行对比，以及一份解释该考试的PowerPoint演示文稿。
CNN审核的其中一份文件称，CLT能够“更清晰地区分顶尖表现候选人”，并指引学生前往官方指南购买售价45美元的模拟考试题库。另一份文件则引用了赫格斯的话，将该考试誉为“黄金标准”，并为军事学院考生提供50%的折扣。
一位熟悉这些文件的国会工作人员表示，他们不记得最近有过类似的推广ACT或SAT的活动。尽管他们表示，提供更多信息或许合情合理，但这些通过电子邮件发送的宣传册和信息看起来更像是一场促销活动。
“我从未见过由考试公司制作、并由军事学院直接分发的如此大规模的推广活动，”该工作人员说道。
美国海军学院的一位发言人告诉CNN，该机构“平等对待所有认可的标准化考试，并不偏袒某一种考试”。
国防部教育活动局今年也开始向11和12年级学生提供该考试，并于上周宣布将向学生发放100张免费参加考试的代金券。
一些批评人士表示，这些变革并非旨在提升学习效果，而是试图推广特定意识形态。
“他们所做的变革，没有一项基于数据。这本质上只是部长想要推行的理念变革，因为这符合他的思维方式，”众议员吉尔·西斯内罗斯对CNN说道。他曾在拜登政府时期担任国防部负责人员与战备事务的副部长。
Inside Pete Hegseth’s push to remake the Defense Department’s schools around the world
2026-09-29T09:00:29.274Z / CNN
At a time when US children are struggling with core subjects like reading and math, students from one school system have consistently scored higher than the national average on federally mandated tests.
Yet the Department of Defense Education Activity, or DoDEA – the Pentagon-run school system that educates some 66,000 children of US troops around the world – is being overhauled under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A few weeks before students returned to classrooms this fall, a directive came down reminding school administrators they must ensure that hundreds of books the Defense Department banned remain out of the classroom and off library shelves.
Many of the prohibited titles explore race, sexism and LGBTQ+ issues, including the popular “Heartstopper” graphic novel series and “Feminist AF: A Guide to Crushing Girlhood.”
Some staff then received a memo warning that “all physical copies must be removed from student access and placed in a secure location,” according to a source who shared it with CNN. There would be“100% compliance required” and the Pentagon would “monitor compliance,” it said.
It was one of the latest salvos in a push to fulfill a wish list of conservative education priorities at DoDEA, even as a lawsuit over the banned books plays out in federal court.
The Pentagon has rushed to build a new curriculum around “classical education” – a movement that calls for elevating the Western canon and is promoted by Hegseth, Trump allies and conservative education groups – and to broaden “school choice,” another conservative education goal on the right, for military families.
Critics argue the Hegseth-led Pentagon is using the school system as a testing ground for controversial education approaches as part of its ongoing culture war, and have raised concerns about censorship and placing limits on what children can learn.
“The beauty of the history of DoDEA is that we provide a quality education to the children of the men and women who serve our nation,” said Tom Brady, who was director of DoDEA from 2014 to 2024.
“It didn’t matter who was the president or the administration,” he said. “So, I’m very distressed to learn, to think that they’re using DoDEA as a test bed for whatever the current administration thinks it is.”
Yet there are signs of more changes to come, sparking further uncertainty.
Starting in January, teachers must read two novels from a “Director’s Reading List” with their class, according to a memo from DoDEA officials sent to schools earlier this month. The memo, obtained by CNN, alerted staff that they are to follow lesson plans about the books provided by DoDEA headquarters in Washington. In a highly unusual move, teachers were told they cannot modify or supplement them, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“Teachers know change is coming, but they don’t know what, how, or when. At the end of the day, they just want to be the best for their students, but it’s hard to know how to do that with so many unknowns,” the person said.
A Pentagon official said the school system “remains committed to providing all of its military-connected students with the best possible education and opportunities,”describing the new emphasis on classical and civics education as an “expansion” of the curriculum that would reinforce “critical thinking and communication skills.”
DoDEA operates around 160 schools serving students from pre-K through high school across about a dozen countries and multiple states and territories.
Despite its history of high academic performance, figures on the right say that the system has become too “woke” and complain that its curriculum espouses left-leaning ideology. They also contend its administration cuts parents out of their children’s education – a complaint they level against much of the US education system.
Under Hegseth, allies have been installed to address these concerns, with some replacing career federal employees that had been at the agency for years.
Ret. Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, a controversial former Fox News contributor and former public school administrator, oversees the school system in his role as under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness. In that position, he has dismissed DoDEA’s high test scores as unreliable and criticized the school district as too bureaucratic.
Tiffany Hoben, a school-choice and classical education advocate, became the system’s education officer earlier this year. Hegseth described Paul Craft, a former public school official who replaced a career administrator as DoDEA director, as the “right leader” to reorient Pentagon schools “towards patriotic values and classical learning.”
And Amy Haywood, one of DoDEA’s most prominent critics, is a senior education adviser in Tata’s office. A conservative education activist and Navy spouse, she has claimed the schools have been corrupted by progressive beliefs and has called for more parental involvement and homeschooling stipends for military families.
In a statement to CNN, Haywood said: “I know firsthand the vital importance of transparent curricula, robust parental rights, and measurable academic excellence.” She also said she was “proud to support reforms that restore accountability, expand educational choice, and ensure our Service members’ children receive an education worthy of their parents’ sacrifice.”
In June, school system officials unveiled an ambitious set of priorities to reshape DoDEA’s curriculum, including a blueprint for how it will implement classical education throughout its schools.
One of the first steps to be enacted was offering a new online class this fall on the history of the West promoted as a “new Classical Education course.”
There is an expectation that the course will be expanded to in-person classes over the next year, Craft has said.
However, some education experts argue that Hegseth’s vision of classical education – a long existing tradition – has coopted the idea from centuries-old liberal arts principals to teach views that are exclusionary.
“The classical education movement started out as a way to address how industrial education had taken us away from kids just learning how to read, write, and do math,” said Anika Prather, an assistant professor at Catholic University, who is a proponent of the pedagogy. But the views supported by Hegseth, she says, have turned it into “this Eurocentric educational philosophy that is now being supported by one of the major leaders of our country.”
“They’ve hijacked it,” she said.
The curriculum changes come amid a larger Hegseth-directed push to cut programs or initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, throughout the military, including its public schools.
Events and materials marking Women’s History Month or Black History Month have been prohibited for over a year.
The Trump administration’s efforts to limit transgender rights across government have also extended to the school system. DoDEA students haven’t been allowed to use “visual depictions or written content” that would promote “gender ideology,” such as transgender pride flags or poems or quotes in their yearbook entries, according to court documents.
New standards
In a 2022 book, “Battle for the American Mind,” Hegseth argued that a classical educational movement rooted in Christianity was the only way to give children a “fighting chance to save America.”
He co-wrote the book with David Goodwin, a conservative intellectual who leads an organization that advocates for classical Christian schools.
The book also called for expanded voucher programs to fund families placing their children into these kinds of schools and implementing the Classical Learning Test, a college entrance exam popular among Christian schools.The test is owned by a private company, Classic Learning Initiatives, which says it promotes “traditional education.” Goodwin also serves as an adviser for the test.
Beginning in the 2027 academic year, it will be accepted for admissions at the three major US service academies, which are operated by the Pentagon but are not part of DoDEA.
This month, the admissions office of the US Naval Academy sent information on the CLT to dozens of congressional staffers, including a flyer from the exam’s company comparing the test to the ACT and SAT and a PowerPoint explaining the exam.
One of the documents, reviewed by CNN, says the CL provides “[c]learer distinction among top-performing candidates,” and referred students to an official guide with practice exams that students could purchase for $45. Another document included a quote from Hegseth promoting the test as the “gold standard,” and offered a 50% discount for service academy candidates.
One congressional staffer familiar with the documents said they couldn’t recall any similar recent effort advertising the ACT or SAT. And while they said it could make sense to need more information, the emailed pamphlets and information seemed like more of a promotional effort.
“I have never seen anything this extensive, created by the testing company, and directly distributed by a service academy,” the staffer said.
A US Naval Academy spokesperson told CNN that the institution “treats all accepted standardized tests equally and does not endorse one test over another.”
DoDEA schools also began offering the exam to 11th and 12th graders this year and announced last week that it will give out 100 vouchers to students to take the test for free.
Some critics say the changes are not aimed at improving learning but attempts to promote a specific ideology.
“The changes they’re making, none of it is based on data. It is just basically a philosophical change that the secretary wants to make because it aligns with his way of thinking,” Rep. Gil Cisneros, a Democrat who served as under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness during the Biden administration, told CNN.