The PragerU Foundation- an Oklahoma-based nonprofit- has recently become popular due to endorsements and sponsorships from far-right, conservative organizations, according to AP News.
This has led their programs to make their way into school classrooms, posing threats to parents who don’t want their children exposed to this form of content.
The non-profit organization’s mission is to instill “American values through the creative use of digital media, technology, and edu-tainment,” said PragerU.
These videos cover a broad variety of topics, ranging from current U.S. policies to science.
According to NBC News, “In one animation, two time-traveling kids ask Christopher Columbus whether he enslaved Indigenous people. Cartoon Columbus responds, ‘Being taken as a slave is better than being killed,’ and insists it is ‘estupido’ to judge him by modern moral standards.”
These videos are marketed to viewers as PragerU Kids.
PragerU Kids is similar to PBS Kids, promoting educational cartoons that engage kids in learning.
“Trump’s [recent] request to claw back about $9 billion for public broadcasting” has made way for the possibility of a new federally funded broadcasting channel, and PragerU could fill that role, said PBS News Reporter Kevin Freking.
This, though, is seen as unlikely.
Trump’s executive order defunding PBS is based on the belief that “Federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage.”
However, even without federal funding, PragerU has made its way into Republican states’ classrooms.
According to Fox News, Oklahoma teachers who come from liberal states must take a test “on gender, constitutional rights and U.S. government.”
This certification is aimed at reaffirming America First beliefs.
AP News said, “Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s public schools superintendent, said Monday that any teacher coming from… blue states will be required to pass an assessment exam, to ensure the teachers will comply with the state’s curriculum, “before getting a state certification.”
Although they are legally allowed to do this, the test is seen as invasive, asking about personal beliefs and ideas.
According to Fox News, Walters continued that he worked with conservative think tank PragerU on developing this test.
This test has shocked parents as PragerU is a media channel and not a university.
In a video on their website, PragerU stated, “the left loves to point out that PragerU is not a real university, but we wear that criticism as a badge of honor.”
This poses the question: Why are they allowed to determine whether or not teachers can instruct?
Though lacking a real answer, this test shows that politics and political views are slowly reaching younger audiences, and companies like PragerU are responsible for this.
