A federally backed school program tied to the scandal-plagued Southern Poverty Law Center is drawing fresh fire on Capitol Hill after a watchdog uncovered millions in taxpayer-supported funding linked to the left-wing activist group’s classroom agenda.
According to a new report from OpenTheBooks, at least $3.85 million in public money has flowed either directly or indirectly to the SPLC and its education arm — including a $2.5 million federally backed project out of the University of Michigan that inserted SPLC curriculum into middle-school programming.
And parents wondering why classrooms increasingly resemble activist boot camps may finally have their answer. The watchdog group says public records uncovered more than $1.35 million in taxpayer dollars paid directly to the SPLC by governments, universities and school districts since 2016. But the bigger political headache centers on an active National Institutes of Health-supported project in Michigan that allegedly folded the SPLC’s “Learning for Justice” materials — formerly branded “Teaching Tolerance” — into classroom programming for kids as young as middle schoolers.
Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reportedly showed researchers planned to integrate the SPLC curriculum into a violence-prevention initiative spread across six middle schools in Michigan’s Genesee County.
Lesson materials reviewed by Fox News Digital allegedly steered eighth graders toward the SPLC’s notorious “hate map,” which has long infuriated conservatives for lumping mainstream religious and parental-rights organizations into categories alongside the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis. Among the groups reportedly tagged under the broad “hate” umbrella: “anti-gay” organizations and “radical traditionalist Catholic” groups.
Other classroom materials encouraged students to view themselves as part of a “movement for justice” and promoted activism ranging from public demonstrations to social-media pressure campaigns and organized lobbying efforts targeting elected officials and corporations.
This week, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate,” examining allegations that the organization distorted civil-rights enforcement while benefiting from fear-driven fundraising and questionable internal operations. That hearing followed a bombshell move by the Department of Justice last month when federal prosecutors indicted the SPLC over allegations tied to an informant program involving extremist groups. Prosecutors accused the organization of wire fraud, false statements and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The SPLC has denied wrongdoing.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie blasted the use of taxpayer money for what he called ideological programming inside schools. “Utilizing taxpayer resources to promote harmful, leftwing rhetoric in our education systems is inappropriate, and I support efforts to root out and expose organizations like SPLC,” Guthrie said. “I support the important work of the House Judiciary Committee to expose the nefarious agenda, funding, and tactics of the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
Conservative author Tyler O’Neil, who testified before Congress this week, warned the NIH-backed project should concern parents nationwide. “The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice project pushes critical race theory and transgender ideology. Meanwhile, the SPLC uses its ‘hate map’ to condemn parental rights groups on the other side of the issue, silencing opposition to its agenda by comparing these groups to the Ku Klux Klan,” O’Neil said. “Federal tax dollars should not promote this divisive program in schools.”
The Department of Health and Human Services told Fox News Digital the program “is no longer being funded” and has been “redesigned” to focus on reducing teen and family violence. But watchdog investigators say the University of Michigan’s project page still lists SPLC as a partner and still describes the program as integrating “Learning for Justice” materials into anti-racism education efforts.
Meanwhile, the SPLC’s own educational content continues to push themes like “educating for liberation,” “racial equity” and dismantling “white supremacy” — language conservatives say has become code for ideological activism masquerading as education.
A previous investigation by the conservative group Defending Education found SPLC classroom materials had surfaced in 169 school districts across 42 states and Washington, DC — including lessons aimed at kindergarten-aged students. According to Defending Education, the curriculum promoted concepts including white privilege, gender ideology, queer theory and anti-racism activism.
OpenTheBooks President John Hart said the public likely still hasn’t seen the full picture. “Taxpayers have the right to know what groups, like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has financed racial animosity, are doing with their money,” Hart said. And if the watchdog’s findings are accurate, Americans may be discovering that the country’s culture war didn’t just enter the classroom years ago — it got federal funding, too.
