Highlights from the Make Education Great Again Conference in Charlotte

EFA hosted a conference on the dangers of Critical Race Theory (CRT), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and transgender grooming in schools. All three of these issues are prevalent in North Carolina.

By: Staff

MEGA Conference Legislative Session. Pictured from L to R: Brian Levecci, COS Lt. Governor; Sloan Rachmuth, President EFA; Rep. John Torbett, Chair House Education Committee; Sen. Ralph Hise, Congressman Dan Bishop; Wade Miller, Exec. Director Citizens for Renewing America

On April 30th, Education First Alliance hosted the Make Education Great Again (MEGA) conference in Education First Alliance hosted the Make Education Great Again (MEGA) conference on April 30th, in partnership with Citizens for Renewing America, to explore what's driving radical agendas in K-12 education. Held at Freedom House Church in Charlotte, the event brought together a cohort of education experts, including Dr. James Lindsay, host of New Discourses and best-selling author of Race Marxism; Max Eden, scholar at American Enterprise Institute; and Wade Miller, Executive Director of Citizens for Renewing America.

Keynote speaker James Lindsay discussed Marxism's history and its new strain in K-12 education, detailing the combination of CRT and Queer theory. During the past two years, North Carolina has become a hotbed of CRT and social-emotional learning (SEL), driven by far-left State school board members and backed by a State Superintendent who follows the board's every whim. The emergence of transgender grooming through pornographic books and gender care plans in districts throughout the state has caused deep concern for parents.

And for good reason.

"You have to wage war on the normal through queer theory and the reason is that you make sure that no child has a stable sense of self, but somebody who doesn't have a stable sense of self is easily groomed," Lindsay told the crowd. According to Lindsay, legislation, like the parental rights law recently passed in Florida, is the best way to ensure a child's safety.

In the first panel discussion of the day, Congressman Dan Bishop said the strategy of preventing federal funds for divisive concepts like CRT and Queer theory resonated with the WOKE behaviour seen in the within the K-12 system. The system, which provides billions to states, like North Carolina, who are willing to mandate social emotional learning which emphasises sexual grooming and CRT. This funding and accountability model makes it close to impossible for local districts to break free from the requirement to teach divisive, age-inappropriate lessons.

Under the current system, parental rights are being trampled in favor of serving the interests of pressing the government's agenda. Senator Ralph Hise told the audience: "When I see a scriptual directive that says raise up a child in the direction it should go . . that's my directive, not the government's. That is not directed to government, that's directed to me as a parent."

In his presentation about school discipline, expert Max Eden shared how equity directives in education policy are putting schools at risk for escaliting violence towards students and staff. The best-selling author of "Why Meadow Died" said that the use of programs like Social Emotional Learning in lieu of suspensions could lead to school shootings if gone unchecked.

In the second panel of the day, guests discussed ways to effectively push back against the Left. We heard from Sloan Rachmuth and Michelle Morrow how allowing naysayers to detract from messaging by using red herrings can undermine an otherwise effective public relations campaign. Max Eden and James Lindsay recommended the use of humor and trolling to defeat the Left's WOKE narratives and to disarm neutral observers.

James Lindsay's presentation:

Legislative Panel: