A new report reveals the Department of Justice has channeled more than $100 million of taxpayer money into school programs promoting progressive ideologies. This has raised concerns about federal overreach in local education and the abandonment of traditional disciplinary approaches.
The massive spending initiative spanned nearly a thousand school districts across 36 states. The spending prioritizes concepts like “restorative justice” and “social emotional learning” over conventional classroom management strategies that have proven effective for generations.
Parents and education advocates are sounding the alarm about the federal push to reshape school discipline policies. They are warning that this is happening without input from local communities or consideration of proven educational methods.
Here’s What Your Tax Dollars Are Going To
If you’re wondering how your tax dollars are being spent in schools, you might want to sit down for this. Parents Defending Education (PDE) is a grassroots organization advocating for traditional education values. PDE uncovered that the DOJ distributed $100,113,942 in grants between 2021 and 2024. The spending was divided across controversial programs that many parents say undermine traditional classroom discipline and safety.
“Although the Biden administration claimed they cared about ‘student safety,’ these grants highlight that at the end of the day, federal bureaucrats made a deliberate choice to prioritize ideology and pet projects over protecting American schoolchildren, using the tax dollars of hardworking citizens,” said PDE founder and president Nicole Neily.
The investigation revealed troubling patterns in how the money was allocated:
– $45.2 million went to “restorative practices” and social-emotional learning.
– $32.1 million funded diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
– $19.9 million paid for consultants promoting critical race theory and similar ideologies.
– $10.3 million created new administrative positions like “restorative justice facilitators.”
Indeed, millions of dollars that could have funded actual school safety measures like security upgrades or school resource officers are instead paying for “anti-oppression” consultants.
“The DOJ claimed that the purpose of the grants was to increase school safety by implementing solutions that will improve school climate — but the opposite happened,” said Erika Sanzi, director of outreach for PDE. “Disruptions, chaos and violence increased, and schools became less safe.”
Prioritizing Feelings Over Learning
Remember when classroom discipline meant students faced real consequences for disruptive behavior? Those proven approaches – like temporary removal from class or parent conferences – are being systematically replaced by experimental methods that prioritize feelings over learning.
Some of the most concerning examples include nearly $2 million given to the Minnesota Department of Education to “create safe learning environments where practices of anti-racism and anti-oppression are embedded.” In New Jersey, Ocean County received almost $1 million to equate “teasing” with “oppression and all forms of violence.”
The spending comes through the DOJ’s STOP School Violence Program. This initiative was originally intended to prevent and respond to actual school safety threats. However, under the Biden administration, the program has increasingly focused on implementing progressive disciplinary policies. Many educators and parents say that these policies make classrooms less safe and learning more difficult.
“More often than not, when schools mention ‘improving school climate’ they mean replacing exclusionary discipline with restorative practices and social emotional learning,” PDE noted. “Exclusionary discipline removes the disruptor from the classroom, allowing the rest of the class to continue learning. Restorative practices, on the other hand, often disrupts class time for more students.”
Previous Report On DEI Spending
This follows a similar report showing the Department of Education spent over $1 billion on DEI-related grants since 2021. This suggests a coordinated effort across federal agencies to reshape American education according to progressive ideologies.
The findings raise serious questions about federal overreach in local education. They also raise questions about the use of taxpayer dollars to promote controversial educational theories. With traditional classroom discipline being replaced by experimental approaches, many parents are left wondering whether their children’s safety and education are being sacrificed for ideological goals.
Concerns about classroom disruption and student safety continue to mount. Meanwhile, this massive federal spending program represents what critics call a troubling shift away from proven educational methods toward untested progressive policies that prioritize woke ideology over student well-being and academic achievement.
Advocates for traditional education are calling for greater oversight of federal education spending. They also want a return to time-tested approaches that prioritize student safety, academic excellence, and respect for parents’ rights in their children’s education.
Key Takeaways:
- Biden’s DOJ spent over $100 million pushing progressive ideologies in schools without parental input.
- Traditional discipline methods are being replaced with “restorative practices” despite safety concerns.
- The federal government is using taxpayer dollars to reshape local education through ideological grants.
- Parents’ rights advocates warn of declining classroom safety under new progressive policies.
