# David Goodwin David Goodwin is the president of the **Association of Classical Christian Schools** (ACCS) — the organization that oversees 550+ classical Christian schools nationwide — and co-author of *The Battle for the American Mind* (#1 New York Times bestseller, 2022) with [[Pete Hegseth]]. He is the **operational layer** of [[Douglas Wilson]]'s educational vision: Wilson built the template (Logos School, [[New Saint Andrews College]]) in Moscow, Idaho; Goodwin scaled it into a national network and gave it a mainstream platform through a bestselling book with the man who would become Secretary of Defense. In this KB, Goodwin represents the point where the [[Christian Reconstructionism]] movement's educational strategy meets mainstream political power. The Rushdoony → Wilson → Goodwin pipeline produced the school network; the Goodwin → Hegseth partnership produced the bestseller that recruited millions of American families into that network. ## Background - Raised on an Idaho farm - MBA; early career at **Hewlett-Packard** in technology and marketing (globe-trotting Fortune 500 role) - Left corporate career to invest in classical Christian education — notably before he had school-age children of his own - Co-founded **The Ambrose School** in Meridian, Idaho; served as headmaster for 13 years, growing it from a struggling small school to 500+ students - Served on the ACCS board (2010–2014) as an elected member - Named **ACCS president** in 2015 — the organization's chief executive overseeing the largest and oldest network supporting classical Christian education in America - Appeared in the FOX News documentary *The Miseducation of America* - Has appeared on the [[Charlie Kirk]] Show, [[Eric Metaxas]] Show, and other conservative media ## The ACCS Network As ACCS president, Goodwin oversees: | Metric | Figure | |--------|--------| | Member schools | 550+ | | Students | Tens of thousands | | Industry value | $10 billion (Forbes, 2025) | | Teacher training | ClassicalU (online platform) | | Publications | *The Classical Difference* magazine | | Curriculum guidance | Trivium-based: grammar, logic, rhetoric | The ACCS is the organizational infrastructure that makes the classical Christian education movement scalable. Individual schools are independent, but the ACCS provides: - Accreditation standards - Curricula guidance and teacher training - Annual conferences and networking - A shared identity and brand ("classical Christian education") - Connection to the broader Wilson/CREC institutional network ### The Wilson Connection Wilson co-founded the ACCS and his Moscow institutions (Logos School, New Saint Andrews College) are the prototype. Goodwin is not Wilson's subordinate — the ACCS is an independent organization — but the theological and institutional DNA is Wilson's. The ACCS network is what Wilson's Moscow model looks like when it scales nationally. ## *The Battle for the American Mind* (2022) Co-authored with [[Pete Hegseth]], published by HarperCollins. Reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. **Core argument:** - American education has been corrupted by a century of progressive "miseducation" beginning with [[John Dewey]] - Public schools replaced Christian *paideia* (the Greek concept of holistic formation) with secular progressivism - The solution is classical Christian education: the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) unified with Christian theology - Parents must reclaim education from the state — the family, not the government, is responsible for children's formation **The book's function:** The *Battle for the American Mind* served as a **national recruitment tool** for the classical Christian education movement. Hegseth provided the celebrity platform ([[Fox News]] audience, MAGA credibility); Goodwin provided the substance and the institutional network to absorb the new families. The book directed millions of readers toward the ACCS schools that Goodwin oversees. The partnership was not casual: the book had been in development for over a decade, reflecting a long-standing relationship between Goodwin and Hegseth that predates Hegseth's political career. ## The Rushdoony Lineage The classical Christian education movement Goodwin leads is a direct descendant of [[R.J. Rushdoony]]'s vision: ``` Rushdoony (1960s-2000s) → "Public education is statist; families must educate their own children" → Expert witness testimony in homeschool court cases → Homeschool movement legalization ↓ Douglas Wilson (1980s-present) → Logos School (Moscow, Idaho) — first major classical Christian school → New Saint Andrews College — higher education → ACCS co-founding — organizational infrastructure ↓ David Goodwin (2015-present) → ACCS president — 550+ schools, $10B industry → Battle for the American Mind — #1 NYT bestseller with Hegseth → ClassicalU — teacher training at scale → National recruitment through conservative media ``` Goodwin does not publicly identify as a Reconstructionist or emphasize the Rushdoony lineage. The branding is "classical Christian education" — a far more marketable label than "Christian Reconstructionism." But the educational philosophy is built on Rushdoony's foundation: the state has no legitimate authority over education; the family and church are the proper educators; children must be formed in a Christian worldview that rejects secular epistemology. ## Connection to the KB Ecosystem - **[[Pete Hegseth]]**: Co-author; Hegseth is a CREC member who moved to Tennessee for the school network Goodwin oversees. Their partnership links the classical education movement directly to the Secretary of Defense. - **[[Douglas Wilson]]**: The theological and institutional architect whose Moscow model Goodwin scaled nationally. Wilson co-founded the ACCS; Goodwin runs it. - **[[CREC]]**: The denomination that anchors the schools. CREC churches plant classical Christian schools; the ACCS provides the organizational framework. - **[[R.J. Rushdoony]]**: The intellectual ancestor. Rushdoony's arguments for family-directed Christian education are the philosophical foundation of everything the ACCS does — even if Rushdoony's name isn't on the marketing materials. - **[[Christian Network State]]**: The Highland Rim Project plans to include classical Christian schools as part of its institutional stack. Goodwin's ACCS network provides the template and potentially the accreditation framework. - **The $10B industry**: Forbes's valuation of the classical Christian education sector at $10 billion indicates the movement has achieved economic scale — it's no longer a fringe phenomenon but a significant market in American education. ## See Also - [[Pete Hegseth]] - [[Douglas Wilson]] - [[CREC]] - [[R.J. Rushdoony]] - [[Christian Reconstructionism]] - [[Christian Network State]] - [[Andrew Isker]] - [[The Unholy Alliance]]