Posted on 08/19/2025 1:06:07 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
This would encourage more traditional, less politicized instruction in military-run public schools and boost recruitment from the most pro-America demographics.
Future military officers and the children of U.S. service members may soon be able to satisfy government testing mandates with a new test that prioritizes traditional math and the Great Books. Because tests strongly influence what teachers teach, this would encourage more traditional, less politicized instruction for the 70,000 or so children attending Department of Defense, or DODEA, K-12 schools.
The current Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) moving through Congress would require DODEA schools to offer 11th-grade students the college admissions test of their parents’ choice. This would allow students to take the Classic Learning Test, a Great Books competitor to the SAT and ACT college entrance exams. NDAA is a must-pass annual military spending bill. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., successfully added that amendment during markup in July.
“Accepting the CLT alongside the SAT and ACT opens the door for talented students from every educational background. It’s about making sure our military academies attract the best and brightest,” Banks said in a statement to The Federalist. “Many homeschool students take the CLT, which focuses on reading, logic, and classic texts in a way other tests don’t. These are good skills to take to the academies and putting this into law would ensure future administrations can’t unilaterally undo what Secretary Hegseth is trying to achieve.”
The NDAA amendment occurred after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tweeted his support for accepting CLT at military academies in May. Hegseth is the coauthor, with David Goodwin, of a 2022 New York Times bestselling book about classical education, Battle for the American Mind. The book follows up...
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
Ideally, we could just go back to where we have been before, when every officer knew Greek and Latin, and every NCO was a soldier’s soldier.
Many don't agree with me, but I would like to see every officer do two years as enlisted before they go to officer training. I bet we would be surprised at how many would get washed out.
bump
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