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Louisiana’s K-12 public school leader is facing criticism after the announcement of a “partnership” between the state and a conservative media organization that produces classroom instructional videos that include some with far-right undertones.
Superintendent Cade Brumley went before the state Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday. Neither he nor its members would confirm whether PragerU was the topic of discussion, though at least one senator in attendance did share his concerns with the videos that have included anti-Muslim themes and questionably accurate takes on historic topics such as slavery.
“One was clearly discriminatory and, actually, was not accurate,” Sen. Joe Bouie, D-New Orleans, said regarding a PragerU video in which Black abolitionist Frederick Douglas justifies slavery.
PragerU announced Tuesday that Louisiana had become the latest “educational partner” in its PragerU in Schools initiative. Arizona, Florida, Montana, New Hampshire and Oklahoma are already taking part, according to the nonprofit organization. Its announcement was made in conjunction with the 2024 Teacher Leader Summit in New Orleans, which involved 7,500 educators from around the state.
“Louisiana was the first state to adopt new, rigorous social studies standards that teach students about American exceptionalism and our quest for a more perfect union,” Brumley is quoted as saying in the PragerU news release. “This partnership will provide teachers with additional resources to help bring our Freedom Framework to life.”
Brumley spent roughly an hour with the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee. In an interview after the hearing, Brumley said there is a “misconception” about how PragerU videos can be used in the classroom, explaining that they are optional and not required.
“I think people think that that’s an adopted curriculum from the Department of Education. It’s not,” Brumley said. “It’s supplemental materials that are already used across the state of Louisiana.”
Titles in the PragerU video catalog include “Mateo Backs the Blue,” which teaches “middle and high school kids how the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and anti-police sentiment affected crime, families, and small businesses in American cities.”
PragerU has also produced “Born to Hate Jews” and other videos with negative viewpoints on the Muslim faith. In another video, explorer Christopher Columbus chides children for using modern standards to form an opinion on slavery.
Asked about the conservative lean of PragerU materials, Brumley said the only brushback he was aware of came from the Center for American Islamic Affairs, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for Muslims’ civil rights. It has called on Louisiana to drop PragerU’s “anti-Muslim propaganda.”
Brumley described CAIR as “a group that celebrates Hamas. This is a group that celebrates the killing of 1,200 Jews,” he said. “This is a group that even the Biden administration has condemned. So if I’ve got to make it right with them, that’s not something that we’re going to accomplish.”
Brumley said there are no state contracts or public money connected to the PragerU arrangement, calling its videos “an optional resource.”
Conservative talk radio host Dennis Prager co-founded PragerU in 2009. Presenters in its videos include former Fox News Network host Tucker Carlson, commentator Ben Shapiro and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
In a social media post, Gov. Jeff Landry said he was “excited to see this partnership come to fruition! The PragerU resources support Louisiana’s nationally recognized Freedom Framework for Social Studies education.”
Louisiana adopted its Freedom First social studies curriculum in 2023, which drew praise from conservative circles. The Heritage Foundation singled out Brumley for leading the policy update to “ include ideas such as ‘fairness, responsibility, respect, and hard work.’
“‘Woke’ K-12 educators want to change school curriculum so more ‘identities’ are represented,” Heritage Foundation education research fellow Jonathan Butcher wrote at the time. “But they don’t want to remind students of their shared identity as Americans — this might suggest there is something redeeming about their country. ‘Oppressive’ fits the narrative better.”
Brumley’s appearance before the committee came a day after The Advocate published a report that detailed specific concerns over PragerU’s materials. Members met with the superintendent in executive session, which excludes the public and news media.
In addition to committee members, Bouie and fellow Sens. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, and Ed Price, D-Gonzales, also took part in the meeting.
Republican Reps. Raymond Crews of Bossier City, Jay Gallé of Mandeville and Mike Melerine of Shreveport tried to enter the committee room but were denied access. Crews and Melerine said they wanted to know why the senators were talking with Brumley. Reporters outside the committee room heard Melerine say he was calling the attorney general’s office to intervene, though the meeting with Brumley concluded without the House members being let inside.
In a joint statement, the House Democratic, Senate Democratic and Legislative Black caucuses labeled the PragerU videos as “propagandistic content targeting young people with divisive, politically motivated themes.”
“Superintendent Brumley’s cynical decision dishonors the history suffered by many of our ancestors and turns our children into political pawns to advance a revisionist political agenda,” Black Caucus chair Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, said in the statement. “Louisiana’s children deserve unbiased, fact-based education free of political agendas. Instead, Superintendent Brumley betrayed his responsibilities to help rewrite history in service of right-wing extremists.”
– Julie O’Donoghue contributed to this report.
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