Results: Prager University Indoctrination

Founded in 2009 by the conservative talk show host Dennis Prager, the eponymous Prager University Foundation is not an accredited education organization. But via online media, its PragerU Kids division has become a key tool in spreading false claims to young people with short videos aimed at undercutting widely accepted science that climate crisis disasters are accelerating due, largely, to fossil-fuel usage. Are you familiar with Dennis Prager?

PragerU's influence in pushing false narratives about climate change and other far-right shibboleths such as airbrushing the brutal reality of American slavery gained ground when the Florida board of education in July gave the green light to using its videos and other materials in classrooms, a move that PragerU is trying to capitalize on in Texas and other states. On Tuesday (9/5/2023), Oklahoma's school system also approved the use of PragerU's materials. Is this a good idea?

PragerU has become a fundraising Goliath, raking in close to $200m from 2018 to 2022 with big checks from top conservative donors, tax records reveal. Among PragerU's leading financiers are the oil and gas fracking billionaire brothers Farris and Dan Wilks, who have ponied up at least $8m over the past decade, according to Texas financial records. Other top conservative donors to PragerU, which styles itself as alternative to the "dominant leftwing ideology in culture, media and education", include the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the National Christian Charitable Foundation and the D*ck and Betsy DeVos Foundation. Do you support conservative indoctrination of American children in public schools?

Prager's chief executive, Marissa Streit, whose biography on LinkedIn says she once served in Israeli military intelligence, boasts on its website: "PragerU is redefining how people think about media and education. We produce edutainment – an intersection of education and entertainment. Our content is essential to shaping culture and preserving American ideals." Does edutainment sound like a slick marketing ploy to promote dishonest and bigoted, rightwing ideology?

"The danger of the Prager climate misinformation is how quickly it can spread in this era where a lot of people, including children, are being trained not to trust media sources or scientists," said Kert Davies, who leads investigations at the Center for Climate Integrity. "That it would be in schools as curriculum is even scarier." "Every student has a basic right to an education that, as much as possible, is truthful, and, as much as humanly possible, objective. This is the opposite." Regardless of your political beliefs, do you believe that all children should be taught science based, objective facts?