History Rocks Tour Draws Protests At Brookfield Central High School
Parents fear partisan agenda as Education Department roadshow stops in suburban Milwaukee.
Murray Bessette, deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Education, was at Brookfield Central Friday for History Rocks! Corrinne Hess/WPR
As word spread across Brookfield that the U.S. Department of Education would arrive on Friday with its History Rocks! tour, some parents feared the event was part of what they see as a larger effort by the Trump administration to indoctrinate children.
Outside Brookfield Central High School, about two dozen people protested, holding signs that read, “Next Come the Brown Shirts,” or “TP = Less Safe Schools,” referring to the conservative group Turning Point USA.
Some parents kept their children home from school.
But inside, the speech from Assistant Deputy Department of Education Secretary Murray Bessette was non-political and brief, lasting just 5 minutes of the 40-minute assembly.
“In many ways, you are living on a new frontier,” Bessette told students. “Advances in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and digital communication are reshaping how we learn, work and the questions your generation will confront about technology, civic responsibility, economic opportunity and national security are complex. They require not only knowledge, but judgment, integrity and collaboration.”
Bessette’s speech was followed by history quizzes, game shows and T-shirt tosses led by social studies teacher Matthew Dapelo.
Brookfield Central Principal Brett Gruetzmacher said the difference between the History Rocks! event at his school and the perception before it occurred doesn’t surprise him.
“Unfortunately, we’re in a very polarizing society right now, and it’s been that way for maybe 15 or 20 years,” Gruetzmacher said. “But I knew what my remarks were going to be and I knew what Dr. Bessette’s remarks were going to be and I knew this wasn’t going to be anything other than celebrating America.”
Murray Bessette, deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Education, left, and Principal Brett Gruetzmacher. Corrinne Hess/WPR
But not all History Rocks! stops have been just about celebrating America.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon launched the cross-country tour in December, calling it a chance to “highlight excellence in patriotic education, civic literacy, and student-driven civics projects in classrooms across the country.”
The tour announcement came after the Trump administration spent the year gutting the education department , firing 1,300 people.
At one of the early History Rocks! stops at a public high school in Genoa, Illinois, McMahon arrived with Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk and the chief executive of Turning Point USA.
Some students who attended the Illinois event told Northern Public Radio the assembly appeared to be partisan in nature and focused on Charlie Kirk’s vision for Club America, Turning Point’s student group, along with Christianity and “traditional values.”
According to the Department of Education’s website, the tour is a partnership between the America First Policy Institute, Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian private university in Michigan, and more than 50 national and state organizations.
On Friday, Bessette told WPR the Department of Education was the only organization funding the tour.
“The event is presented as a non‑political, unifying celebration for all Americans, funded solely by the Department of Education,” Bessette said.
Parents and students protested History Rocks! in Brookfield. Corrinne Hess/WPR
Still, parents weren’t convinced.
“This is not about left versus right,” said Catherine Kahler. “This is about protecting the integrity of our public schools. Our schools need to be focused on education. They should not be serving as stages for political messaging from any party.”
Sheena Gatzke kept her son home on Friday morning. She said she wasn’t interested in having him hear the rhetoric from the federal government.
“Turning Point is not something that I want for the future of any of my children, and that starts somewhere,” Gatzke said. “Does it start in a veiled assembly at a high school? Could be. So I just think it’s better he’s not there.”
Department of Education assembly at Brookfield high school rocks community was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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