PragerU among educational lesson plans allowed in Texas schools under new law
The "State Board of Education has authority under new statute to review and approve commercially available instructional material, such as those sold by PragerU. We welcome all publishers to participate in the SBOE's review and approval process," the Texas Education Association said.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Monday, PragerU announced it is now an educational vendor in Texas, according to a video posted to its website. That means teachers have the options to use its lessons in classrooms.
Texas is the second state, after Florida, to approve material from the conservative nonprofit to be used in schools, according to its release. The Hill reported in Florida, the videos aren't required content but "aligns to Florida's revised civics and government standards and can be used as supplemental materials."
In Texas, the use of PragerU content is similar. The "State Board of Education has authority under new statute to review and approve commercially available instructional material, such as those sold by PragerU. We welcome all publishers to participate in the SBOE's review and approval process," the Texas Education Association said.
Resources for teachers
School districts throughout the state are still working to fill teacher vacancies. Lawmakers filed multiple bills in an attempt to support schools and address those shortages during the latest legislative session. House Bill 1605 addressed supplemental educational materials in Texas schools.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 1605 in June which creates a new SBOE process of vetting instructional materials and give districts who use those materials additional funding.
It "seeks to increase access to high-quality instructional material for students, give necessary relief to teachers, and provide more transparency for parents," according to a Texas Senate Committee report.
The law overhauls how Texas approves these materials. Before, the TEA had a review process, and the SBOE also had a process where it "issues a proclamation to call for new instructional materials," according to its website.
"Instead, a new unified process is built with checks and balances, where TEA does instructional materials reviews subject to SBOE oversight, and materials are ultimately approved by SBOE. A funding formula, supplemental to the Instructional Materials Allotment, of $40/student is provided to buy SBOE-approved materials, as long as those materials are made available by publishers in an online portal for parents to easily browse," the Senate committe bill analysis noted.
As part of the process to provide more resources for teachers in Texas, the TEA said it has sent out Request for Proposals for vendors.
On Monday, Texas Board of Education Member Julie Pickren, District 7, appeared in PragerU's announcement video. She discussed what the TEA clarified is the state's effort of creating its own "set of instructional materials in a few grades and subjects, as open education resources."
"Texas is now going to develop, write and publish our own core knowledge curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade," Pickren said.
PragerU CEO Marissa Streit noted on the video its role will be creating "supplementary lesson plans so the teachers who use the core knowledge curriculum can use PragerU videos and books and magazines."
The TEA specified it does not have a partnership with PragerU. KXAN asked if it would track which districts use content from the nonprofit and will update this story when we receive a response.
What is PragerU?
On its website, PragerU describes itself as a nonprofit that promotes "American values through the creative use of educational videos that reach millions of people online," going on to specify it "offers a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education."
"PragerU is not an accredited university, nor do we claim to be. We don’t offer degrees, but we do provide educational, entertaining, pro-American videos for every age," the nonprofit states at the bottom of its site.
Shows on its website include ones about history (characters Leo and Leyla meet figures that include founding father Alexander Hamilton, the Biblical King David and "I Love Lucy's" Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz), financial literacy (courses about understanding taxes and student loans, among others) as well as "how tos" (such as "How to Ask for Help," "How To Be a Victor & Not a Victim" and "How to be a Rational Patriot.")