Last month, a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala. indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on 11 criminal counts — wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The Justice Department’s allegation is disturbing. For nearly 10 years, between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC “secretly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to individuals who were associated with various violent extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of America.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche summed it up in plain terms: “The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence.”
The SPLC denies the allegations. But while that legal fight plays out, Minnesota parents and taxpayers are entitled to know why entities connected to our education system are still promoting SPLC-affiliated teaching materials.
The SPLC’s educational arm is called Learning for Justice (formerly called Teaching Tolerance). Founded in 1991, Learning for Justice provides “free educational materials” to teachers and other school educators. “While Learning for Justice produces some content that appears neutral, the sum of its work does promote far-left ideologies and viewpoints that push a leftwing agenda,” documents the watchdog group Defending Education.
In Minnesota, those materials have made their way into teacher trainings, state guidance documents, and district initiatives.
Education Minnesota, the state teachers’ union, links members to Learning for Justice resources on its racial and social justice resource page. The Minnesota Department of Education recommends Learning for Justice webinars and resources through its “Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Resource List” and “Title IV, Part A: Safe and Healthy Students Resources” school-climate guidance document. Back in 2023, American Experiment sounded the alarm on the department’s “Transformative SEL and Cultural Competency” course, which also recommends Learning for Justice resources.
Individual districts, too, have integrated Learning for Justice materials into equity policies and curriculum planning, as uncovered by Defending Education. The Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district states in its 2023-2026 Achievement & Integration Plan that all of its elementary and middle school units of study will be updated to include the Teaching Tolerance [Learning for Justice] framework. Lakeville school district includes Learning for Justice in its equity framework resources for families. South St. Paul school district links to Learning for Justice resources through district equity materials.
This is not limited to Minnesota. Defending Education found Learning for Justice materials integrated into curriculum, lesson plans, teacher professional development, SEL programs, and district-wide equity policies in 169 school districts across 42 states.
Parents may disagree about SPLC itself, or about the broader political debate surrounding race and education. But questions about oversight and who vets outside organizations before their materials are promoted in schools matter. It matters especially when the organization supplying those materials secretly routed donor money to Klan-affiliated individuals while publicly fundraising off their supposed threat.
At a minimum, while this litigation proceeds, the Minnesota Department of Education, Education Minnesota, and any school district using these materials should pull their Learning for Justice recommendations and explain how they vet organizations they point teachers toward.
If they won’t act on their own, parents and community members have options. Remember, under Minnesota Statute 120B.20, a district must have a procedure in place for a parent to review the instructional materials provided to their children and, if the parent objects to the content, make reasonable arrangements with school personnel for alternative instruction. Parents and community members should ask their school boards about serving on the district advisory committee. This committee is intended to “ensure active community participation in all phases of planning and improving the instruction and curriculum affecting state and district academic standards…”
