MIAMI – The Florida Department of Education has approved a series of educational materials from a conservative group for use in classrooms across the state.
On its website and in its 2023 Biannual Report, PragerU, founded by conservative talk radio host Dennis Prager, showcases content framed through the lens of conservative pundits, conservative activists, and Republican National Committee members.
Recommended Videos
The Florida Department of Education says it has “reviewed PragerU Kids and determined the material aligns to Florida’s revised civics and government standards. PragerU Kids is no different than many other resources, which can be used as supplemental materials in Florida schools at district discretion. PragerU Kids did not submit a bid to be included in the 2022-23 instructional materials adoption for social studies. The list of adopted materials is available on the Instructional Materials page of the Department’s website.”
On its website, PragerU Kids defines itself as “Teaching American Values,” adding “Woke agendas are infiltrating classrooms, culture, and social media.”
In a video posted to the Moms for Liberty YouTube Channel from the group’s July “Joyful Warriors National Summit” conference in Philadelphia, Prager shared with the group a conversation he said he had with demonstrators on his way into the event: “I really wanted to hear what evidence do you have that I am despicable? And all I heard was, ‘Well, because you indoctrinate kids.’ Which is true. We bring doctrines to children. That is a very fair statement. I said, ‘But what is the bad of our indoctrination?’”
In 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in a news release that he signed “House Bill (HB) 7, to give businesses, employees, children and families tools to stand up against discrimination and woke indoctrination.”
The Florida Department of Education did not address if PragerU’s unabashed right-leaning content runs afoul of Florida’s law against “indoctrination”.
In its 2023 Biannual Report, PragerU features content it says it has developed for “6th Grade & Up,” which includes “Left Vs. Right: Host CJ Pearson shines a light on the differences between conservative and left-wing thinking from the role of government to doing good versus feeling good.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Pearson, who dropped out of college to join PragerU in 2022, is the Republican National Committee’s “Youth Advisory Council Gen Z National Co-Chair.” There is also “Myth Mash,” which the group says “smashes the anti-American, leftist lies infecting classrooms, and inoculates young minds with truthful history, told in PragerU’s uniquely colorful, entertaining style.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Broward County Public Schools said “the District has no current plans to incorporate this curriculum in the upcoming school year.”
A spokesperson for Miami-Dade County Public Schools tells Local 10 News PragerU was “approved as a vendor for supplemental materials/resources” but unknown is whether there are plans to adopt PragerU’s content into the upcoming school year’s curriculum or whether there will be a process by which parents can exercise their parental rights to education to have their children opt out of the vendor’s content.