Here is how Al Moyer describes the fights in his school district over the past few years.

It was pretty ugly, to be very frank with you.

Moyer serves on the Gettysburg Area School Board in Pennsylvania, and he says two big

issues set things off. First, the debate over masking during COVID, and then in

2023, some community members were upset about a tennis coach who was transitioning from male to female.

Those two situations really caused kind of the second civil war battle in Gettysburg.

All across the country, the most polarizing issues dividing American adults are also showing up on the doorsteps of K-12 schools.

Sometimes literally.

Back in April, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security visited two elementary schools in Los Angeles County.

The district superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, told NPR the schools prevented the agents from accessing students.

How would you feel if you were a parent of a child in your school, and somebody called you and said, you know what?

Homeland Security or the FBI or the Secret Service or ICE showed up at the school when we provided them direct access to your child.

DHS said the visit was a welfare check on immigrant children who had arrived unaccompanied in the U.S.

Carvalho disputes that.

Looming over all of this, of course, is President Trump.

On the campaign trail, he promised to bring the federal government into fights over classroom instruction and policies.

When day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school

pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual,

or political content on our children. It actually took until date 10, but that was just the start of Trump's moves on K-12 education.

He signed an order seeking to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's school sports.

His administration rescinded guidelines that prevented immigration enforcement at schools.

And he's also trying to eliminate the Department of Education.

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