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Louisiana will let public schools show right-wing group's 'edu-tainment' videos, sparking outcry
State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley speaks Wednesday during a Let Teachers Teach workgroup news conference at the State Capitol.
staff photo by Javier Gallegos
Louisiana's
top education official said Tuesday that teachers can show students videos by PragerU, a right-wing media nonprofit that produces “pro-America” content that critics call conservative propaganda.
State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley announced his endorsement of the group's "edu-tainment" children's videos at a statewide teacher conference Tuesday, making Louisiana the sixth state to partner with PragerU. The state Department of Education plans to share a list of the group’s videos that teachers are allowed but not required to use in social studies lessons.
In a news release, PragerU said its partnership with Louisiana is "more expansive" than in other states, adding that Louisiana's education department approved an "extensive list" of PragerU videos for social studies.
On Wednesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, called on Louisiana to cancel the partnership. PragerU has published videos critical of the Muslim faith, including “
Where Are the Moderate Muslims?” and “
Born to Hate Jews.”
CAIR, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, said that PragerU’s materials could “create a dangerous and disruptive environment” for Black and Muslim students.
“PragerU, which has a history of spreading ahistorical propaganda and Islamophobia, is not a reputable source of information about anything and has no place in public school curriculums,” CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor said in a statement.
The Louisiana Department of Education and PragerU did not immediately respond to requests for comment on CAIR’s statement.
In his announcement Tuesday, Brumley said that PragerU’s videos align with
the state’s new social studies standards, which he calls the “Freedom Framework.”
“Louisiana was the first state to adopt new, rigorous social studies standards that teach students about American exceptionalism and our quest for a more perfect union,” he said in a statement released by PragerU. “This partnership will provide teachers with additional resources to help bring our Freedom Framework to life.”
Founded in 2009 by conservative radio host Dennis Prager, the nonprofit produces slick online videos that
the group says have been viewed billions of times and are hosted by conservative media figures, including Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. Geared for young adults, its videos frequently attack liberal causes, including
gender-affirming care for transgender youth,
climate change,
the Democratic party and
teachers unions.
More recently, the group launched
PragerU Kids with animated videos, books and other content covering American history, civics, financial literacy, the Bible and other topics. In 2023,
Florida became the first state to approve PragerU Kids content for use in classrooms, followed by Oklahoma, Montana, New Hampshire and Arizona.
“PragerU Kids is serving families, schools, and young Americans through edu-taining, pro-American content and undoing the damage of leftist teachers unions,” the group, which spends millions of dollars
advertising its content, said
in its 2023 annual report.
The report adds that the nonprofit is dedicated to “Biblical values, protecting children’s innocence, celebrating America’s exceptional history, civic responsibility, rejecting woke culture, and defending free speech.”
Similar to its videos for adults, PragerU’s content for students in grades K-12 promotes a conservative worldview. For example, a book called “
Sofia Survives the Border” for middle and high schoolers, teaches students “why strong borders are essential for keeping communities safe and prosperous.” A video for grades 6-12 called “
Los Angeles: Mateo Backs the Blue” explores “how the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and anti-police sentiment affected crime, families, and small businesses in American cities.”
The children's videos have faced
blowback from historians and educators, who say PragerU places conservative values before historical accuracy.
In one
controversial video for students in grades 3-5, an animated Christopher Columbus tells two time-traveling children that they should not judge slavery in his time by modern-day standards, adding that “being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no?”
In another, the children meet Frederick Douglass, the formerly enslaved abolitionist, who defends the Founding Fathers’ stance on slavery.
“I’m certainly not OK with slavery,” the cartoon Douglass says, “but the Founding Fathers made a compromise to achieve something great: the making of the United States.”
PragerU did not respond to a request for comment. But in the annual report, CEO Marissa Streit defended the two videos.
“PragerU doesn’t downplay the evils of slavery, as we’ve been accused of doing,” she wrote. “We hate slavery! We teach that racism is evil. We offer important age-appropriate context, something that is sorely lacking in the contemporary teaching of history.”
Jacob Newsom, a social studies teacher at St. Amant High School, a public school in Ascension Parish, said he watched several PragerU Kids vidoes and found them filled with “historical revisionism and slanted perspectives.”
“It’s not anything other than propaganda disguised as educational content,” he said, adding that he will not use the materials with his students.
Ted Beasley, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, did not respond to a question about criticisms of PragerU’s content. He said the group curated a list of its videos that fit Louisiana's social studies standards. He added that the department did not pay for PragerU’s resources, which teachers are not obligated to use.
"It’s vital for students to comprehend America’s greatness while on a quest for a more perfect union," he said in an email, adding that students should learn "why an engaged, informed citizenry is essential to protecting, sustaining, and improving upon our constitutional republic."
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