PragerU Is Coming to YOUR Student's Classroom

What To Know About This Radical Ideology Being Taught As History

Extreme politicians have been railing for months against what they call ‘indoctrination’ in classrooms.  It is their belief, no matter how unfounded, that public classrooms are becoming spaces where children are increasingly told what to think not how to think.  This is part of what has fueled their hysteria in seeking book bans: to remove literature from student access that radical political elements think are part of an indoctrination effort.

And yet, the state of Florida is rolling out a program to introduce PragerU into classrooms.

What is PragerU?  It is a propaganda platform disguised as ‘Americanism’ educational modules that preaches a subversive gospel of white nationalism.  It is, in effect, a media arm of the fundamentalist Christian political movement.

PragerU is, without question, a form of indoctrination.

In fact, PragerU is not especially opaque about this.  They make it clear that part of their mission is to make children buy into their ideology of extreme American exceptionalism and the benefits of a Christian state.  This is not a consequence of teaching the whitewashed version of American history that they predicate: it is part of the mission of the financial backers of PragerU.

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A majority of PragerU’s funding comes from a pair of Christian fundamentalist billionaires, Dan and Farris Wilks.  They are on record as saying that they believe that schools are teaching a ‘gay agenda,’ and ‘other ideas’ that are ‘not proper… not right.’  To push back against the dangerous idea of students learning critical thinking skills (the horror), the Wilks brothers have injected a message of biblical obedience into PragerU’s “courses.” 

They want the bible to be taught in school as part of regular curriculum. 

Dennis Prager, the founder of PragerU, himself makes no qualms about his want to indoctrinate children into fundamentalist ideologies.  Empathy and self-worth are also enemies of Dennis Prager.  He is on record as saying that society does not owe it to children to help them build self-esteem.  Rather, instead of in a student’s formative years when they should be building confidence and self-determination, Prager thinks parents and schools should be instructing them in his severe ideologies.

This.  Is.  Indoctrination.

Fundamentalists have been up in arms about the idea of indoctrination being a part of school curriculums, and yet THEY are now the ones pushing a radical version of American history to try and force students into their ideology.  The hypocrisy could not be any more naked.

What is possibly even more concerning, is that the structure of the school system, and how it is tied to the state government, has allowed ‘dark money’ (like that provided by the Wilks) to flow into local districts.  PragerU coming to Florida schools is not an accident, after all.  It was facilitated by a network of organizations that have been working for decades to spread their political ideology outside the ‘usual’ lanes of politics.  These actors are no longer satisfied with just controlling state houses or courts: they want leverage over your local city councils or townships and municipalities.

And they want control over your schools.

And because of court decisions like the landmark Supreme Court ruling Citizens United, which defined corporations as people, not organizations, it has become easier and easier for politically motivated corporate money to infiltrate local government.  That’s how something like PragerU winds up in front of your students.  Through funding provided by political extremists aimed at taking control of your school board.

Fortunately, lots of schools and school districts are pushing back against adopting PragerU materials in the classroom and issuing statements that they will not be utilizing them.  However: not to sound alarmist, but this does not mean those materials will not still end up in front of your student.

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The hard truth is that since PragerU materials are already approved by the state of Florida for use in classrooms, there will be tremendous pressure on schools to find ways to use them.  Even if districts say they do not want to use them, they could be coerced by the state at large. 

If this is a concern to you as a parent, the good news is there is action you can take.  First, write to your representatives, call their offices, attend school board meetings and make your voice heard.  Tell them you do NOT want PragerU being used as part of classroom material and that you object to the ideology it espouses.

More directly, if you do find that PragerU is being used in your student’s classrooms, opt them out.  You can do so with a simple letter to the teacher and principal of the school, and we have provided examples for you to use below.  You do not have to allow your students to be subjected to an incorrect, whitewashed, politically skewed version of American history and ideals. 

You do not have to let them be indoctrinated.