New Information Set to be Released About Controversial SCDOE & PragerU Partnership
State Representative Jermaine Johnson is preparing to release new findings concerning the South Carolina Department of Education’s controversial partnership with the far-right educational organization PragerU.
Yesterday, Representative Johnson took to X (formerly Twitter), stating:
“BREAKING UPDATE: I am in receipt of my #FOIA request to the @EducationSC and @ellenfored. I am currently working through all of the data to determine if any of our tax dollars were spent on the partnership with @prageru. I will be planning a public update in December. #SCPol”
Since its founding, PragerU has drawn significant criticism for promoting historically inaccurate and politically biased content. The organization has been accused of downplaying the impact of European colonization on Native American cultures, claiming that slavery was not the primary cause of the Civil War, and equating Communism with Nazism. Critics argue that these views present a distorted version of history and undermine critical thinking in education.
While State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver defended the partnership, stating that the PragerU videos are aligned with South Carolina’s K-12 standards and offer supplemental content on civics and financial literacy, many educators have voiced concerns.
Clifford Lee, vice president of the Greenville County Education Association, questioned the educational value of PragerU’s materials in an interview with WYFF, calling it a "YouTube channel" rather than a legitimate educational resource.
Rep. Johnson, who has been investigating the partnership, described "irregularities" in how the content is being integrated into classrooms. He emphasized that there are serious questions surrounding the partnership that need to be addressed.
Johnson is expected to hold a press conference in December to reveal the results of his investigation. The exact date of the conference has not yet been announced.
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Looking forward to learning the results of the investigation into PragerU and the SCDOE.