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On Monday, July 24, Florida’s Department of Education confirmed to the press that the state’s public schools will have approved content from the conservative non-profit PragerU as part of its curriculum. The same was approved by Governor Ron DeSantis and other state education officials, thus making Florida the first state in the USA to include such a curriculum.
In fact, on the same day, the non-profit also released a piece of news on its official website, announcing that its content would be introduced “in schools across America” as an educational resource and Florida was the first state to officially approve so.
Meanwhile, Cassandra Palelis, the Deputy Director of Communications for Florida’s education department spoke to The News Service of Florida and stated that the non-profit's content will be used as “supplemental teaching materials.”
As soon as the news of PragerU content being implemented in Florida school curriculum surfaced online, netizens began slamming it for its pro-conservative nature. One user even commented on Twitter:
Florida’s PragerU curriculum faces severe backlash as Twitterati deems it "alarming"
On Monday, Florida’s Department of Education announced that the state’s public schools will now have content from the non-profit PragerU, which specializes in producing video content featuring conservative figures. In fact, its news release on the website read:
“Florida was the first state to officially approve PragerU’s new K-12 curriculum.”
A revised version of the release later stated:
“Florida approved PragerU as an educational vendor.”
Echoing a similar spirit, a spokesperson from Florida’s Department of Education released a statement saying that the state’s education department “reviewed PragerU Kids (the section dedicated to K-12 education) and determined the material aligns with Florida’s revised civics and government standards.”
They also added how it was no different than many other resources already being used as supplementary materials in the schools at district discretion.
The department, however, clarified that the non-profit did not “submit a bid to be included in the 2022-23 instructional materials adoption for social studies” and that it was the state’s singular decision.
Regardless, people online did not miss the opportunity to hold the Florida government and education department accountable for including the non-profit's curriculum that allegedly promotes systematic racism, s*xism, pro-slavery and anti-immigrant theories among other conservative ideas.
About PragerU
For those unaware, PragerU (or Prager University Foundation) was founded as a non-profit by a conservative radio host named Dennis Prager and author Allen Estrin in 2009. It describes itself as “a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education.”
As for its educational content, it covers topics such as historical events and figures, religious and Biblical tales, and America’s system of governance throughout history. As per its websites, its edutainment content is often hired by pro-American kids shows for all grades.
The website even has a petition asking people to sign and ensure that its content spreads nationwide.
Following Florida’s announcement that its schools will now have PragerU content, the company's current CEO, Marissa Streit, was seen celebrating the step in a video posted on the company website. Streit said that the state’s students will benefit from the initiative and can no longer be “brainwashed” by the left-wing education system. She also mentioned how the far-right can no longer de-platform it out of schools.
Andrew Spur, the President of Florida’s teachers’ union Florida Education Association said that the step was not about “educating kids” but about “promoting propaganda.” The adoption of the non-profit's curriculum by Florida comes days after Ron DeSantis’ government was condemned for approving a new syllabus for African American history that said that Black people benefitted from slavery and were also perpetrators of violence.
