Why is DOD Pushing DEI on Military Children?

Families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when children receive proper education. The Left has been pushing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs for several years, and conservatives have been fighting back. However, things may be worse than thought.

S.A. McCarthy, a news writer at The Washington Stand, authored an article about a new report published by nonprofit government transparency watchdog Open the Books. The report is titled “Schools for Radicals: The Secret Push to Institute Radical DEI Curriculums within the Pentagon’s K-12 Public Schools.” The report detailed “the efforts of the Department of Defense Education Activity to promote left-wing agendas in classrooms.” 

… The report begins by noting that the DODEA operates 160 schools across seven states, 11 foreign nations, Guam, and Puerto Rico and is responsible for the education of over 66,000 students. The program’s budget for the 2023 fiscal year was $2.25 billion.

“Unfortunately, the DODEA has been pushing radical ideologies on children of military personnel for way too long,” said Meg Kilgannon, Family Research Council senior fellow for education studies, in comments to The Washington Stand. “Imagine serving your nation on the battlefront and returning home to find your daughter is now your son, and to further learn that the schools provided to your family were the first to encourage this lie. This situation is outrageous and fixing it should be a priority for a Republican administration.

Open the Books explained that it “used spending data gathered from federal checkbook database USASpending.gov. Other information was collected from FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests and through videos from the Equity and Access Summit provided by a whistleblower.” These are the report’s key findings:

The Pentagon Lied About Dismantling DEI Initiatives

According to Open the Books, the DODEA became the subject of intense scrutiny for its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in 2022, after then-DEI chief Kelisa Wing made racist social media posts targeting white people….

DODEA Used SPLC Content in Classrooms

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a known left-wing activism organization, but DODEA still uses the group’s content in training teachers, according to whistleblowers cited in Open the Books’s report….

DODEA Hired Third-Party Contractors to Conduct DEI Training on Taxpayers’ Dime

According to Open the Books, DODEA has not only free resources from the SPLC but spends millions of dollars hiring third-party contractors to promote DEI in classroom programs, too….

DODEA Spending Is Increasing With Almost No Accountability

Open the Books noted in its report that DODEA federal grant spending has “roughly tripled since 2020, from $20 to over $70 million annually,” approximately $300 million is spent annually on contractors, and over $1 billion is spent annually on contractors, and over $1 billion is spent on salaries, “but individual salaries remain a mystery, as DODEA refused to disclose this data, unlike nearly every other federal agency or school district across the country.” …

Education is valuable for all people. However, improper education is propaganda. Families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when children are given proper education.