Missouri Attorney General and U.S. Senate Candidate Eric Schmitt Signs ‘The 1776 Pledge’ to Restore Honest, Patriotic Education 

Schmitt commits to opposing CRT, anti-American indoctrination in K-12 classrooms

As the federal government continues to target parents and students for speaking out against radical, anti-American curriculum in K-12 classrooms, Eric Schmitt, the current Attorney General of Missouri and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, committed to taking concrete steps to restore honest, patriotic education by signing “The 1776 Pledge to Save Our Schools.”

As the first statewide candidate or elected official in Missouri to take this Pledge from 1776 Action, Schmitt joins other statewide leaders across the country including South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and a growing number of U.S. Senate candidates in states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Pledge signers commit to taking concrete steps to:

  • Restore honest, patriotic education that cultivates in our children a profound love for our country.
  • Promote a curriculum that teaches that all children are created equal, have equal moral value under God, our Constitution, and the law, and are members of a national community united by our founding principles.
  • Prohibit any curriculum that pits students against one another on the basis of race or sex.
  • Prevent schools from politicizing education by prohibiting any curriculum that requires students to protest and lobby during or after school.

Eric Schmitt issued the following statement about his decision to sign The 1776 Pledge:

“As a parent, I know how important it is to restore integrity and transparency to our education system and ensure that radical, divisive ideologies like Critical Race Theory no longer have a place in our classrooms. That’s why I’ve made parents’ rights a central part of my campaign for U.S. Senate, and why I have fought as Attorney General to hold schools accountable for what they teach to our students. Now, I’m ready to carry this fight to Congress. I am proud to sign ‘the 1776 Pledge’ to make a promise to every Missourian that we will once again put parents and students in charge of education and demand that schools teach an honest and true account of our history and culture.” 

Adam Waldeck, President, 1776 Action, issued the following statement applauding Schmitt for taking the Pledge:

“As Attorney General of Missouri, Eric Schmitt has already shown a commitment to fighting back against Critical Race Theory and restoring honest, patriotic education to our classrooms. Eric knows first-hand what it will take to make progress on this issue in Congress, and we are thrilled that he has joined our movement.”  

1776 Action launched in March 2021 to combat anti-American indoctrination in K-12 schools with support from Dr. Ben Carson (a former member of the 1776 Commission) and Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Through targeted messaging campaigns, the group has helped to advance anti-CRT policies across the country, most notably in Virginia, New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Dakota.