Oklahoma Department of Education announces partnership with right-wing propaganda group

The Oklahoma Department of Education has announced an “ongoing partnership” with right-wing propaganda group PragerU, allowing the conservative nonprofit’s controversial videos to be shown in state classrooms.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma’s Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced the initiative on X (formerly Twitter).

Related:

Rightwing propaganda outlet PragerU’s materials approved for schools in Ron DeSantis’ Florida

PragerU purports to liberate children from the “dominant left-wing ideology.”

“I am thrilled to announce this partnership with PragerU,” Walters said in a statement. “This expansion of our availability resources will help ensure high quality materials rich in American History and values will be available to our teachers and students. We will work together to find ways for PragerU to create content that will enrich the education of Oklahoma student.”

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Established by screenwriter Allen Estrin and conservative talk radio host Dennis Prager in 2009, PragerU is not an accredited academic institution. On its website, the organization describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit offering “a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education.”

That alternative comes primarily in the form of short video content, which is laden with right-wing propaganda. PragerU’s YouTube channel has over 3 million subscribers and hosts videos that claim the gender wage gap does not exist and that white people are unfairly villainized for stealing the land of Native Americans. As Forbes notes, YouTube has restricted and demonetized videos on the group’s channel and removed two anti-trans videos for violating the site’s policies banning hate speech. The group’s videos have been criticized as misleading and factually inaccurate, with the Southern Poverty Law Center describing them as “dog whistles to the extreme right.”

PragerU Kids’ animated videos have gained attention recently, including one in which an animated Frederick Douglas describes slavery as a “compromise” that benefited the U.S. and another in which an animated Christopher Columbus argues that he should not be judged for atrocities inflicted on native peoples in the 15th century.

Oklahoma is the second state to announce that PragerU’s materials will be used in classrooms. In July, the organization announced that it had been approved as an educational vendor in Florida. Under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida lawmakers have worked to reshape public education in the state with laws like the Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly referred to as “Don’t Say Gay,” and the “Stop WOKE Act.” Florida’s Department of Education told the Miami New Times that it “reviewed PragerU Kids and determined the material aligns to Florida’s revised civics and government standards.”

According to the Boston Globe, the New Hampshire Department of Education is also considering approving PragerU materials in state classrooms.