Members of the Texas State Board of Education are at odds over whether videos produced by PragerU should be used to teach history in public schools.
Board Member Julie Pickren (R-Pearland) has lauded the potential inclusion of PragerU’s content in Texas schools, while some of her colleagues have denounced the videos as “untruthful” and “offensive.”
PragerU, which describes itself as a “conservative nonprofit that is focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media,” released a video on August 21 in which CEO Marissa Streit and Pickren said that PragerU content would soon be used in Texas schools.
“We are definitely ready to welcome PragerU into the great state of Texas,” Pickren said in the video, as PragerU announced that its “supplementary educational resources are [now] on the approved vendor list in the state of Texas.”
“Children in thousands of K-12 Texas schools now have the opportunity to learn from PragerU’s wholesome, patriotic, and age-appropriate content,” a video caption reads.
The announcement prompted some members of the State Board of Education (SBOE) to hold a press conference on Tuesday, where they claimed the announcement was “misleading” in that it suggested such materials were already available to students.
“Although that is not currently true, the bold and misleading announcement encapsulates the gravity of the situation,” said Board Member Aicha Davis (D-Dallas), per Texas Public Radio. “It highlights the efforts by PragerU and radical elected officials to introduce their misleading and false curriculum into our public schools.”
“This has not gone through any kind of review process,” claimed Board Member Melissa Ortega (D-El Paso), according to Fox 7 Austin. “We do not endorse this, and we will not be having this come to Texas.”
After the video was posted, Pickren clarified on social media that “PragerU was approved by [t]he Texas Comptroller’s Office to be placed on the Comptroller’s Master Bidder List (CMBL).”
“The CMBL is a list of thousands of approved vendors who may bid and enter into contracts with state agencies and can be used as a reference by local municipalities,” she continued. “The ‘Welcome To Texas’ video was announcing PragerU is an approved vendor on the CMBL.”
Board Member Staci Childs (D-Houston) claimed PragerU promotes inaccurate information on historical topics such as slavery and said she was disappointed Pickren associated herself with PragerU.
“Not only did it hurt my feelings but it was shocking that she’s willing to say PragerU is coming to Texas and they’re spewing lies,” Childs claimed, according to Texas Public Radio. “And they’re OK with spewing lies to millions of students whether they’re Black or not — millions of students that live in Texas.”
“The videos are very offensive,” alleged Davis, per Fox 7. “Not only that, they’re untruthful.”
The Dallas Express contacted PragerU and Pickren for comment but received no response by press time. Meanwhile, Texas Freedom Network’s senior political director, Carisa Lopez, called PragerU’s content “political propaganda.”
“This is a clear equity issue,” Lopez said, per Texas Public Radio. “Texas public schools represent children from all backgrounds and our curriculums should tell the truth about our history.”
Lopez accused PragerU of having “twisted the words of Frederick Douglass, making disgusting claims that slavery was a compromise.”
“And that’s just one example of the negligent and misinformation this vendor pushes,” she said.
However, Texas Values Director of Government Relations Mary Castle told The Dallas Express that “groups like Texas Freedom Network are trying to scare people because they want to push more of a woke agenda at the State Board of Education.”
“Now that we have different laws in place and a stronger conservative majority on the board, they’re starting to see their power slipping,” she said. Castle explained that the SBOE is neither approving nor denying PragerU content at its meetings this week but rather discussing the application of HB 1605.
HB 1605 incentivizes school districts to choose materials that the SBOE determines to be in line with TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) — state standards for what students should learn in school.
Castle said HB 1605 requires educational materials to meet all of the TEKS. She said that materials, including texts that promote “radical ideas,” were previously considered by the SBOE while only meeting half of the TEKS.
The full text of HB 1605 can be found here. The legislation also includes a provision that will enable parents to view instructional materials online.
“We saw this with parents coming to us, saying they wished they could see these textbooks that their kids are getting where it has sexually explicit materials or it has [critical race theory]-type messaging,” Castle told The Dallas Express. “They may be able to see some things like sex ed, but they weren’t able to see social studies or math textbooks that had these radical ideologies.”
She said the SBOE is “discussing this legislation this week and how they’ll implement it in the future.” She explained that materials approved under the law will probably not be used until 2025, predicting the process to approve them will likely begin next year.
“It will be kind of a new process going forward, but nothing directly in this meeting would approve or deny the PragerU materials,” she told The Dallas Express. The SBOE has been meeting in Austin, with policy sessions scheduled from August 29 to September 1.
Castle argued that attacks on potential PragerU materials are unwarranted as no content has been proposed to the SBOE.
“I think these claims are just fear tactics from the Left because they want to see more of their CRT woke radical ideology be adopted in textbooks in the future,” she said, asserting that PragerU should be allowed “the opportunity to be posted on the website for parents and groups like ours to review those materials and compare them to the TEKS and compare them to our American values and see if they align.”
Castle said that while Texas Values does not “endorse specific materials,” she believes PragerU promotes “a positive view of our American history.”
“Moving forward, I think there’s a very positive chance of PragerU being approved,” she said.