COLUMBIA — The S.C. Department of Education is partnering with conservative media platform PragerU, the company announced Sept. 16, saying that some of its videos and other instructional materials had been approved for classroom use as optional resources.
South Carolina is the latest state to partner with the controversial platform, whose short videos have faced criticism of inaccurately portraying American history and advancing conservative political arguments.
In a video conversation with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit posted Sept. 16, state Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver described some of PragerU’s resources about the Constitution as “a wonderful resource that really breaks down barriers and provides access to some of the most wonderful content I’ve seen on this topic.”
“We are so excited about the partnership with you, and all the other civic resources that we are looking to bring to the table for our students and our teachers,” Weaver told Streit in the video.
An Education Department spokesman did not respond to The Post and Courier’s requests for comment about the details of the partnership and how it came to be.
Many of the company’s videos and other resources, which Streit described as free and optional for South Carolina teachers to use in the classroom, were linked with various K-12 state standards covering history, government, economics and geography subjects in a document published on PragerU’s website.
The videos’ subjects include personal finance concepts, different political and economic systems, American government and history.
Several standards about modern world history, for instance, are paired with a PragerU video titled “If You Live in Freedom, Thank the British Empire,” which argues that the British Empire was a force for spreading freedom.
Other standards are paired with videos explaining “Why Private Investment Works and Government Investment Doesn’t” or asking “Is Fascism Right or Left?”
Founded by conservative talk show host Dennis Prager, PragerU has partnered with several other states to varying degrees, starting with Florida in 2023. It describes itself as providing people the “intellectual ammunition they need to advocate for limited government, individual responsibility and economic freedom.”
Patrick Kelly, the director of governmental affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association and a government teacher near Columbia, raised concerns about access to the videos on PragerU’s website beyond those listed on the standards document, which might not be aligned with the state’s education standards.
On the page with Weaver’s announcement video, for instance, the related videos sidebar links to videos such as “Title IX: When a Good Law Turns Bad,” by Betsy DeVos, the U.S. secretary of education under former President Donald Trump.
“I have far more questions — and concerns — than I have answers at this point,” Kelly said in a statement. “What I do know is that the library of videos on the full Prager platform involves topics that are not aligned to state standards and would not pass the ‘fact-based’ requirement for materials found in the Transparency and Integrity in Education Act,” he added, referencing a bill banning the teaching of race-based curriculum in public schools that Statehouse Republicans narrowly failed to pass last legislative session.
The partnership with PragerU comes months after the Education Department stopped South Carolina schools from offering the full version of an AP African American Studies class, though some districts have offered its curriculum as an honors course.
South Carolina Education Association President Sherry East connected that controversial move to the department’s new partnership, describing them both as “top-down” decisions made with inadequate input from teachers.
One PragerU video linked to a state standard about analyzing biblical traditions titled “If There Is No God, Murder Isn’t Wrong,” by Prager himself, drew concern from the ACLU of South Carolina.
“It shouldn’t need repeating, but public schools do not exist for the purpose of religious indoctrination,” spokesman Paul Bowers said.
A few conservative state lawmakers cheered the news online, including state Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Goose Creek, who asserted on social media that school curriculum includes “boat-loads” of left-wing rhetoric.
“School curriculum should match the values of the majority of its people,” Pace wrote.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)