Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark - America’s Kids Are Falling Behind: A Way Out For Teachers & Parents | Dr. Hutz Hertzberg

Episode Date: May 24, 2026

Dr. Hutz Hertzberg, Chief Education Officer at Turning Point Education, joins us to discuss faith, leadership, education, and culture. With decades of experience spanning higher education, ministry, and service as a U.S. Navy Reserve chaplain, Hutz shares insights from leading top-ranked Christian schools, mentoring the next generation, and navigating today’s cultural challenges through a biblical worldview.TURNING POINT EDUCATOR'S SUMMIT JUNE 16-19, 2026REGISTER HEREOur Guest:Dr. Hutz HertzbergDr. Hutz's Links:WebsiteInstagramTurning Point EducationFOLLOW ALEX:Instagram |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @realalexclark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@cultureapothecary⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @yoalexrapz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @RealAlexClark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to ‘Culture Apothecary’ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. New episodes drop 6pm PST/ 9pm EST every Monday and Thursday.DISCLAIMER: This content is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always talk to a qualified healthcare professional for any health-related questions or decisions.

Parents across America have this feeling right now that something is deeply off in education. Kids can't read. Teachers are burning out. Boys are falling behind. AI is changing how students learn and more families than ever questioning what schools are actually teaching, if anything. So today we're talking about all of it with Dr. Hutz-Herzberg, chief education officer for Turning Point Education. He spent decades leading schools, universities, churches, and educational organizations. and now he's helping lead a national conversation around faith, courage, and the future of education in America. You might remember him back in September of 2025. We interviewed him all about Charlie Kirk.

Watch this bonus episode on the real Alex Clark YouTube channel or Culture Apothecary on Spotify. Leave us a five-star review to support the show. Please welcome Dr. Hudson-Hertsburg, Chief Education Officer for Turning Point Education to Culture Apothecary. Why can't kids read anymore? Not only can't they not read, they can't do math either. It's the lowest it's been in many, many years, certainly since COVID, but even going back before COVID. You know, there's different theories and answer your question. I mean, some say that this is the most distracted generation because of all of the technology that they have available.

Some would just say it's just poor teaching. The education is just so bad. And we know that's the case, Alex, in the government schools, that the education is so bad. So I think that's a factor. I think it's been so dumb down. But so I would say it's not any one factor. combination of all of that. But it is a point of concern. If kids can't read, they really can't be free. I mean, if you can't read the great text and read God's Word and read the great documents,

you know, you're not really a free person. So this is a really important issue. Logistically, what is happening, though? Like, how is it that we have high schoolers that can't read beyond to third grade level? I mean, what is the curriculum they're using to even try to teach kids to read. It's a woke watered-down curriculum that goes all the way back. Really, around the turn of the century, the 1920s for sure, where it's, you know, the beginning of this liberal progressive thinking in terms of education and with Locke and Dewey and others that began to sow those seeds. And I think we're just seeing the fruit of that now come to fruition. I mean, it's really been in the last 10 to 20 years that we've seen really bad test scores and they continue to go down. But I think it's been

baked in for a long time. And we've moved away from classical education. I mean, we have this social, modernistic, progressive form of education, which is not the way our forefathers were educated. It was not the way that most people were educated until really around the turn of the last century. Haven't we abandoned phonics? Like, kids aren't learning with phonics. They're using something called sight words. You just have to try to memorize, like, what a word looks like, and that's how they're trying to teach them to read. In some cases, but not totally, phonics is something. that is still used. And by the way, classical education is exploding across our country. People are seeing exactly what you're seeing and they're saying, you know, this is not good education.

And so the number of classical schools across the country are growing like crazy. Is homeschooling growing because parents became radical or because schools changed radically? I think it's both. People during COVID began to see what their kids were learning on school. They were watching over their shoulders. And I think that helped accelerate it. But the homeschooling movement has actually been growing over the last 20 years. There was very little that you could find on homeschooling. You go to a homeschooling conference, there's two or three tables there. Now there's hundreds of homeschooling conferences with thousands of vendors, you know, and so the curriculum has gotten much, much better. And parents have come to believe two things.

One is, I can do this. And second of all, it's my responsibility to do this. The thinking was, well, I'm just going to offload my kid to the school. Now, they wouldn't say it offload, but that's just what you did. She just went to the government schools thinking that you're going to get a great education. And in most cases, parents didn't know who their teachers really are. They didn't know what the curriculum was. They just trusted that this is good education. So I think it's really a combination of both.

Why are boys struggling so much with modern education? I think it's because we have tried to put boys in seats for eight hours a day, or six hours a day, seven hours a day, and just tell them, be quiet, listen. And that's not the way that boys learn. Boys want to be active. They want to be outdoing stuff and really exploring the nature or, you know, learning and being active and not just sitting behind a desk all day. And again, as a proponent of classical education, there's more of that dimension, the joyful

learning, to really teach kids to be joyful learners and take nature walks and to go out. and learn and to draw landscapes and things outside. But I think an answer to your question is because we've tried to teach boys like girls. And girls are more apt, although they're, you know, it's not like they love to be lectured to for an hour and a half, but they're more geared to be able to learn that way. Boys are not wired that way. Why do you think so many high achieving students are emotionally fragile? Well, do you think that's just limited to high achieving students?

I guess all today. Yeah, I think by and large that that's, generally a true statement. You know, the students that we're working with down in our prepier program, we find that there's some that are not emotionally as fragile as the general student. But, you know, we've heard the terms, of course, and you know, I'm Snowflake kids of, you know, helicopter parents that, you know, try to protect their children from everything. And if things are not perfect, you know, then their kids fall apart. And so I think parents are partly to blame. I think it's a function of what's going on in our culture today. But I don't know that it's every kid.

And I don't know that it's just particular to high achieving students. Do you think that schools even know how to develop young men, healthy, strong young men? No. The short answer is no. In fact, in our division, 20 point education, we actually developed a program for the very reasons that you're asking to really make it more user-friendly and more boy gear. And so we developed something called Ironworks, where a dad can take their son over two years, and it's physical activity, it's Bible study and scripture study, and it's also learning how to do things. Like, how do you make a fire? And, you know, how do you even shoot a gun? And, you know, and so it's a very active kinds of things. But again, for the very reasons you're talking about, that's something that we developed

because we see that very thing, that the boys do learn differently, and we need to. understand that. Is that something a class that a father and son sign up to do together, like an event somewhere, or is that curriculum that you do at home? It's more the latter. Okay. We provide the curriculum. It's for a father and son or sons, or if there's a son that doesn't have a father. I mean, another man can do it. It doesn't have to be a father. But we have a two-year curriculum. And again, it's the physical, it's the spiritual, and then that's the mental and emotional. And those that have done it, we just launched it in this last year, they appreciate it. And we don't say it's the end all. It's not like that's the only

ones, we're the only ones that are doing it. But we're trying to get at the very thing that you're alluding to. Again, the boys learn differently. And here's an opportunity for fathers to help their sons learn, grow, and mature into young men. I think that is so cool. And this is the type of stuff that I love telling people about because they don't realize these different things that Turning Point USA does. There's certain things that you see a lot in the media. And then there's a lot of behind-the-scenes things that are healing and shaping culture that just don't get enough attention. I think that that program is so phenomenal. Do you think that schools have become spiritually formative, whether they admitted or not? I think they are spiritually formative in a negative

sense. You know, I mean, there's no such thing as neutral education. You know, again, the thinking used to be, Alex, well, you know, the governor's schools, that's just neutral education. It's not, you know, pro or con, you know, Christian faith or against religion or anything. That's not true. I mean, even basic secularism is this form of religion. But in most cases, it's so much worse than that. I mean, students are really being abused emotionally and, you know, hopefully not physically, but certainly emotionally and mentally and spiritually in many cases, being taught by people that hate all the things that God loves. I mean, and the students then are being taught the things that God hates in their classroom.

So I think you were asking in a positive way, you know, our school's becoming a place of spiritual refuge. I would say by and large, no. And in fact, just the opposite. I think it's becoming detrimental to faith and to spiritual things. Do you think parents underestimate how much worldview formation happens in school? Absolutely. I'm going to tell you a statistic that's going to blow your mind.

In fact, one of our speakers at our Educators Summit coming up is a man by the name of George Barna. He's been on this show. And you know then that he says that there's only 4% of Americans, total Americans, that have a biblical worldview. That means 96% of people in our country do not have a biblical worldview. And so we're thrilled to have him. He's going to be with us three days.

And he's going to talk about this very subject, actually, at our Educator's Summit. But the thing about George is that the bar, I said, well, what is the criteria? And his newest book coming out explains, the criteria, but it's very basic stuff like believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, believe that the word of God is the inerrant word of God. I mean, it's a pretty low bar to, you know, qualify to have a biblical worldview, and again, only 4% of Americans have it. So, an answer to your question, I think parents completely misunderstand the worldview indoctrination that kids are getting in schools today. If AI or chat GBT can write the essay,

what is even the point of school now? Well, because we believe that it's not just learning information. It's learning how to think. AI doesn't teach kids how to think. It gives kids great answers, but it doesn't teach them how to think. And so we don't want kids that just know, you know, facts and information. We want them to really be lifelong learners and to continue to think and grow throughout their whole of their life.

I'm not sure AI does that. some would say maybe that does, you know, I'm not convinced. Do you think that teachers are more scared of students, the administration, or parents? I think teachers are scared of their teacher unions. I just was in another conversation, and the teacher unions are so powerful in our country. I think that's underestimated across our nation. And the state that our division is based in Illinois, the teacher unions really control the state in terms of what gets past, what doesn't get passed,

and it's all about the teacher unions, much more than it is about the kids. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, I don't think they care very much about what the parents think, honestly, and I really do think so much of it is the teacher unions. Do you think we're educating kids or just teaching them to comply?

It would be across the board, depending on the school that you're looking at. I mean, I know some wonderful schools that you and I would be so pleased to send our kids to because they are really learning how to think, and they're learning how to think the right things, and they're learning about the true, the good, and the beautiful.

And then, you know, in terms of complying, yeah, I mean, you know, line up and, you know, don't do this, don't do that. You know, it becomes more of a, I don't want to say a military school, but just a compliance school, as you're alluding to, try to keep kids in good behavior. And honestly, in a lot of the government schools, public schools, behavior is a big issue. I mean, we hear stories regularly about teachers being threatened, you know, feeling in danger because the students are out of control. So yeah, they, you know, they're trying to keep students in compliance, but that's not every school. It really isn't. Do teachers feel

pressure to affirm ideas that they don't believe? I think Christian teachers do for sure. I mean, honestly, Alex, I am thankful for every Christian teacher or a man or woman of faith that is still in the government public school system. It is the front line of the mission field. With that being said, I don't know how they can be in a lot of cases because they so have to either keep their mouth shut, compromise their beliefs, or just keep their head down and, you know, just do the basics. But they can't bring to bear their faith and integrate, truly integrate the discipline, whatever it is, you know, whether it's math or history or whatever, with the Christian faith. And of course, you know, we're coming at it in turning point education. that we believe there's not power in education, there's power in Christian education. We're not for generic education. We're for Christian education. Well, that's antithetical to what government public schools are. There's, you know, any Christianity is an anathema. And so here you've got these wonderful Christian teachers that are trying to slug it out, but it's not easy. And we try to,

in our educators some, we try to encourage them and equip them. But more and more are leaving because they can't teach in that environment. And that's a tragedy because now the little bit of light that has been in the public school system is now leaving because they no longer can operate where they have to compromise themselves. So it's sad. It's really sad. What do you think the punishment is for educators

who step out of the line ideologically? Oh, well, they get isolated. You know, they get marginalized. They get canceled. And they may lose their job. We've heard instances where because people have spoken up for their faith, and you know that, I mean, some have, you know, even reached the Supreme Court. Thinking of, you know, the coach, as a coach Joe, who, you know, he was just trying to pray

on the 50-yard line after games, you know, and that was too much. And so, you know, he lost a job over that and went all the way up to the Supreme Court. And at the end, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, and the school had to give him his job back and had to give his back pay. but yeah, there's serious repercussions. Again, in the public government school system, 100%. What do public school teachers need right now that they're not even getting?

Because of the teacher unions, they're getting a lot. Now, they would argue, well, you know, we're not getting enough pay. We're not getting enough days off. We're not getting enough, you know, in service learning time. We're not, you know, our days are so long. We're not getting it compensated extra for all the extra things that we do.

So it seems like, you know, It's never enough, again, from those. Again, Christian school public school teachers, I don't think they feel like they get support. I don't feel like they feel like they can bring their faith to bear. What does courage look like for a teacher in 2026? I think courage is going to, maybe the courage to walk away from my job because I can no longer, and maybe it's not even no longer, I cannot compromise my beliefs for the sake of a paycheck. or if I stay in three or five more years, I get this wonderful pension in retirement.

You know, Alex, I often say, God will often call us to sacrifice, but he'll never call us to compromise. And so, you know, we stay in there, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. But when you cross the line from sacrifice to compromise, you know that it's not God's will. And that that has been a very helpful standard in my own life. Some, you know, have to come to the decision that, you know, the most courageous thing I can do is actually walk away. What would happen if churches seriously re-engaged education again? Well, I know that this is not a surprise to you, but that was what churches did when our country was founded and really all

way through the 1800s. And even right up and close to the beginning of the 1900s, churches took the responsibility not just for Bible education, but really the holistic education of children, again, not just even in their church, but in the community. That was lost again with the onset of the government school system, the public school system. you know, churches began to abdicate what we think is a right role for churches to the government system. I think that more and more churches, and because we work with them and we work with pastors, are now more interested than ever to provide a alternative to the government public school system. So there is an awakening that is taking place, but it's really a throwback to the way that it was when this country was founded.

If people listening feel this tension, whether they're teachers, their parents, pastors, or maybe they're just listening and they're just worried about where culture is headed. What Turning Point Conference are you putting on this summer that they've got to attend? Oh, there's only one. There's only one. And it's our fifth annual educator summit. We're so excited about it, Alex. Our theme this year, and it goes perfectly with what you've been asking me,

courage and our convictions, cultivating clarity and chaos. That's our theme. And really, we're going to talk a lot about biblical worldview, but we're going to talk about some of the very issues that you've been asking me, What does that look like? And normally we get about a third public school teachers, administrators, third Christian private school teachers, third homeschooling parents. And then we get some school board members.

We get pastors. So we get a really great mix. And that was really Charlie's vision is we didn't want to be just a Christian educators' conference. We wanted to be able to expand the whole scope of education. So this year we'll be in Lincolnshire, Illinois, June 16 to 19. And by the way, here's a quick trivia point. Lincolnshire, Illinois was the second headquarters of Turning Point. Started in Lamont, Illinois.

You've heard about Lamont, Illinois, the little garage there where Charlie started. Second office was in Lincolnshire, and then Charlie moved to Arizona. But anyways, that's where we're going to be at the Marriott-Lincolnshire Resort, June 16 to 19. And it's going to be phenomenal. We have some wonderful speakers, some subject matter experts, actually 28 of them. Who are some of them? You would know many of them because you've had them on the program. But we've already mentioned George Barna.

He's going to be with us three days. Phenomenal, Dr. Al Moller, President of Southern Seminary, John Stone Street, president of the Colston Center. We have, of course, our own Erica, which we so appreciate. Riley Gaines, Megan Bastian. Oh, Megan's very cool. She's very cool. But then we have people like David Goodwin,

who's the president of ACC Association of Christian Classical Schools. We have a lady by name of Heather Lloyd, president of Concordas Educational Partners. We have a really good mix of people that can speak at the 10,000, foot level about what's at stake here in education and why we need to be courageous. But then we also have people that are down in nuts and bolts of what it means to really kind of drive out this kind of education. Who is the summit actually for? Well, it's for all those groups that I mentioned, public school teacher administrators,

Christian private school teacher administrators, homeschooling parents, all of those would be, have come and have come away very encouraged because they realize, you know what, I'm not alone in this. there's other public school teachers that are struggling with the very same things I am, or there's other Christian school teachers that feel like our school is just kind of a watered down, a kind of Christianized public school. And, you know, that's a struggle. And then homeschooling parents, you know, we need all the help that we can get.

What do you think attendees are going to walk away with? First of all, people will come away in courage. They will come away so encouraged that there are like-minded Christian conservative educators that share my values that are working. in those different spheres that we've talked about, those different educational settings, and they'll realize, you know, I'm not alone, but they're also going to be better equipped. And again, some of the people that we have, I mean, we've got a couple presidents of colleges, we've got people that are turning out teachers. And so they know what a good teacher is.

And so, you know, we've got people like that that I think will be super helpful and interesting. And so we want to both encourage and equip. And so that's the goal. And that's, That's what we've done in the past. Is there anything planned that you think is really going to shake people up? Well, if you came, that would certainly shake people up. And by the way, for any of your listeners that happen to be listening, your audience, if they enter the code Alex Clark, they get 30% off. Oh, I didn't even know that.

Yes. That's great. Alex Clark, that's all the name you need. On what website? Turningpointed.com. Okay, turning point ed. All one word, turning point ed.com. an answer to your question, I think what George Barna is going to share is going to knock people's socks off.

I've heard him give at least one of the talks that he's going to give for us. And I think they're going to be blown away with how bad it is. How much are tickets and then what is included? I just said that if you enter in the code on our website, turning point ad.com, Alex Clark, you get 30% off. Or you're thinking, well, Hutz, this must be a $500 event. Well, it's $50. Oh, my gosh. So you get 30% off of $50.

It's practically free. We're practically paying you, but we're not quite there yet. But it includes all your registration. We give you a lot of free things, some wonderful new books that have just come out by Dr. Goodwin and George Barna and Erwin Lutzer and people like that. Includes virtually all your meals, includes exposure to all the sessions. And so we want to make it as affordable as possible. And so that's why it's obviously heavily subsidized by our generous donors.

Otherwise, we couldn't offer it the price we do. That's the fun part about being a 501c3 nonprofit. Is there any info they need to know about hotel discounts? Yes, yes. So we're at the Marriott-Lincolnshire Resort, which is a beautiful hotel, golf and tennis and swimming and racquetball and paddleball, all that. There's actually a theater there as well, not a movie theater, but like an acting theater.

So it's really pretty cool. Great facility. just north of O'Hare Airport. But the rooms normally go for, let's just say, $250, $75 a night. So we're, again, supporting, subsidizing to the tune of a couple hundred dollars per room. So it's only $75 per night for a beautiful room. You're right there at the conference center. We're providing the meals.

And so it's about as good a deal as you can get. Yeah, that's phenomenal. Thank you so much for our donors who are helping do this. So is there a deadline for people to be able to get that hotel discount? Yes, there is. Yes, and I'm so glad you asked. So our block expires on the 29th of May. Okay.

So I think that still gives your people time to be able to take advantage of that, and we want them to take advantage of it. If someone's on the fence about coming, what would you say to them? Oh, get off the fence. I mean, why be on the fence? There's other education conferences, and actually, you know, many of them are very good. But the people that come to ours say it's not just the communication of information, which is important.

You know, we agree with that. But it's the people that you get to meet. And literally, we get people from Alaska to Florida that have a shared common vision, Alex, of trying to make a difference in the world of education. These are not just teachers trying to get continue education credits, and there's nothing wrong with that. A lot of the conferences offer that. We don't offer that.

We offer an opportunity to make a difference where God is called. called you in the world of education for the sake of this generation of children. That's how we go about it. That's how our speakers speak. And our theme this year, again, is going to be right up that alley. Courage in our convictions, cultivating clarity and chaos. I'm just really impressed that you can remember all those words that start with C. That's very good.

Yeah, I think a lot of parents, a lot of teachers, a lot of pastors know that something is not right and just the ability to get together with a lot of like-minded people and network and brainstorm and encourage one another is going to be so edifying and encouraging. So I really do encourage all of the homeschool moms in my audience, all of the teachers in my audience to please attend. And this is for men and women, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. We actually have some students that are coming as well. Can you bring kids, babies? Is there a nursing mother's area or anything? Well, you know, you can go to your room and nurse. Yeah, because the conference is right at where your room is. And so you can just slip out and do that. So yes, that would be possible.

Obviously, besides the Educators Summit, which is super exciting, what else is turning point education doing that the general public may not know about that they should be excited about? You know, I'm so glad you asked Alex, because there is something very, very exciting that is happening. Just this past year, we launched really our fifth major initiative, and I won't take the time to go through all the others, but we've talked about one, the Educators Summit. But we have something called Prep Year. Prep year is a nine-month intensive in-resident leadership development program for post-high school prior to going on to the next chapter of life young adults. So we're looking for 18, 19-year-olds. And like I said, we launched this year down in Fort Worth, Texas. We had 34 amazing students from literally Alaska to Florida and from 18 different states. And this is where we help

these students, regardless of what their next stage of life is. Some will go on to college. In fact, a good part of them will go on to college, but not all of them. Some will become homemakers. Some will go in the trades, the arts, music, become entrepreneurs. Part of the vision of this, I went to Charlie. I said, Charlie, you're always talking about not going to college. I get it. You know, I think it's a good battle cry.

But let's provide something for students then that they can go on and make a difference in their life, irrespective of the field that God may call them to. And so we developed this program called Prep Year. there's nothing gapy about it, and it's very intentional. And so students study the great book, which is the Bible. They study the great books of Western civilization, which so many kids, they don't even have a clue, you know, the great philosophical works or the great literature works. You don't read those things anymore. You get social studies. And then they also study the great documents of our country. You know, you might get a token American history class if you're

lucky at your school, but, you know, really it's a watered down version. Here, our students really go in depth understanding the Constitution Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Federalist Papers, anti-federalist papers. Why are those important to us today? And then we have great speakers that come in from the outside, great mentors. And so it's just been a great pilot year this first year. 34 amazing students. Graduation is very, very soon. And next year, we're right in the middle of recruiting for next year. We're going from 34 to 130. We're hitting the accelerator. And we're going to have 50 in Texas and 80 in Illinois. Where can family sign up?

We would love for anybody who's interested just to go to the same website, turning point ed, all one word, turning point ed.com, and just click prep year, and they'll get all the information there. They can learn more about what I'm talking about. They can fill out an initial interest form, and we can respond to that. They have to apply. This is a high bar to get in because basically they're getting a $25,000 scholarship.

We do ask them to pay a marginal amount of $2,000. It doesn't even come close to covering the food, but we pay for everything. Room and board, all the material costs, all the programming costs, all the special events that they get to go to, the special things that they go to. We take them to Amfest. It's a year-long program. No, it's actually nine months. But we are sending some to Y-WLS because we love what you're doing. I love that.

That's going to be so cool. W-YLS. W-L-S. W-W-L-S. Yeah, yeah. I got to get the right. You know, there used to be a Y in there. That's what was throwing me off. I know. But I pulled the Y out. I fought really hard for us to drop that Y because it was confusing the audience. They'd be like, well, I'm not young. I'm 30. Can I still go? I'm like, yes, it's literally for all women. So I was like, we've got to take that out of the title. It's confusing.

I love what you've done with that. Yeah. So it's going to take me a little while, but I think I've got it now, WLS. Perfect. Anybody who has an 18-year-old who's graduated from high school or a 19-year-old that may be graduated in the last year, they are a prime demo, and we would love to be able to answer any questions that any family might have. If you could offer one remedy to heal us at culture, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, what would it be? Well, I would say listen to your program. Oh, thanks. Yeah, I mean, absolutely. That's going to do it. It's got to start with a God-centered worldview. I mean, if you get that part wrong, then it doesn't matter if you have everything else right,

because you're going to go down the wrong direction. So, and that's, again, part of what we're talking about, developing a true biblical worldview so that we see all the world through a biblical lens. So whether it's health, nutrition, whether it's education, whether it's politics, we're looking through, and I'm putting my hand up as that is the Bible, a biblical worldview lens to understand the world. That's the most, I think, hopeful, positive thing that I could possibly suggest. suggest. Hutz is a total gem at Turning Point USA, you guys, a close friend of Charlie Kirk

for, I mean, nearly his entire life almost. So we love Hutz and you guys will love TP education. That's super critical that you guys get involved with that. Thank you so much for coming on Culture Apothecary. Thank you so much. Pleasure to be with you. Whether you're a teacher, parent, pastor, homeschooler, or just somebody who feels like the education system is shaping culture in ways that we cannot ignore anymore. I think this conversation made one thing really clear. A lot of people feel this tension right now, and a lot of people are looking for solutions and community. So if you want to attend Turning Point Education Summit this summer, tickets are $50. And then, of course, what HUD said, you can use code Alex for 30% off of that.

They include breakfast and lunch each day. There's that discounted hotel rate available through May 27. This was a special bonus episode. Normally new episodes are released Mondays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. Pacific 9 p.m. Eastern. I'm Alex Clark, and this is Culture Apothecary. Thank you.