Education reform organization launches foundation to be ‘new NRA for education’
New foundation 'is building the playbook to reverse the decades of decline'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}EXCLUSIVE - An organization that wants to reform school boards across the country is launching what they call "the new NRA for education."
"The 1776 Project PAC … was extremely successful over the last, I guess, four years now, electing over 250 conservatives to school boards across the country," Ryan James Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project PAC, told Fox News Digital. "We've seen that after they were elected, a lot of them wanted further help and outreach to sit there and talk about policy."
Girdusky added that "The 1776 Project Foundation is going to meet that role and fill that void that is desperately needed as far as public policy goes when it comes to public schools and school boards."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oregon Department of Education rolls out official 'gender support plan' for districts throughout the state. (Oregon Department of Education )
Founded in 2021, the 1776 Project PAC, says their mission is "Reigniting the spark and spirit of that revolution by reforming school boards across America."
An embargoed press release from the 1776 Project PAC says the new foundation, "is an off-shoot of the 1776 Project PAC."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Since 2020, the 1776 Project PAC has led the conservative fight to win conservative school board seats and own the education issue, from ending remote learning to championing a return to classical education," the release reads. "Over 250 of their endorsed candidates won elections. They have a majority of small donors and are currently #22 on Win Red."
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The new foundation "is building the playbook to reverse the decades of decline. The 1776 Project Foundation will research education initiatives, develop policy, and more. Think: the NRA of conservative education."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}First and foremost, Girdusky says he hopes that the new foundation will mobilize parents to run for the school board.
"I want them to run for office," Girdusky said. "That's essential. So often, people are just afraid and they don't run for office. And running for school board is vitally important. And so, go on the 1776 Project PAC and run for school board and ask for our endorsement."
As parents get elected, he said he wants to see them work to improve schools for the students.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Once they are on, I want them to think about the systemic issues facing their specific school district," Girdusky said.
"I always say, school districts are like snowflakes," he added. "They look the same from far away. But when you go into a microscope, they're very different. They all have individual needs and individual problems. And I want them to think, whether it be about teacher retention or disciplinary actions or reading and math scores or woke stuff, how best they can sit there and address the immediate concerns to elevate the conversation and improve the standards for students."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The organization's launching of a "new NRA for education," comes as President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order calling for the elimination of the Department of Education. (Jose Luis Magana)
Girdusky says he started the organization following an incident at his godson’s school where the teacher read his 4th grade godson the book, "Race Cars and Something Happened In Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice."
"His teacher made him read the book Race Cars, which is about how policemen only follow black cars, not white cars," Girdusky said. "And it was a ... school with a lot of kids whose parents are police officers. And it was incredibly tone-deaf, especially for fourth graders. And his mother was incensed."
Their "new NRA for education," comes as President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order calling for the elimination of the Department of Education.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump campaigned on eliminating the department during the 2024 presidential election, and enlisted the help of Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla Inc, to review the efficiency of the agency.
Trump’s nominee for the Department of Education, Linda McMahon, said during Thursday’s Senate committee hearing that "If I am confirmed to be able to get in and assess programs, how they can have the best oversight possible, how we can really take the bureaucracy out of education."
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on February 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. McMahon, the former head of World Wrestling Entertainment, is under fire as Trump has announced he plans to eliminate the Department of Education and pass its function to the states. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Aiden Buzzetti, president of the 1776 Project Foundation, told Fox News Digital that they want to be the "intellectual backbone" of education reform.
"There are so many school board members in the United States, there's over 80 to 100,000 individual board members," Buzzetti said. "And that is very important that those with an eye towards education reform are organized and are able to get the resources they need to implement the right policies or even review the policies that the current board has already put in place."