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New Hampshire families can now choose a new financial literacy course from PragerU through the state’s Learn Everywhere program, and New Hampshire Democrats have a new hobby horse to ride into campaign season.

That was the result after three hours of a contentious State Board of Education meeting on Thursday, where Democrats, progressives, and union activists packed the room to denounce PragerU and its “right-wing” politics.

“This approval disregards the potential harm PragerU’s extreme content will inflict on our schools and the education of our children,” said Democratic Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, who is seeking her party’s nomination for governor next year.

At issue is a video course on personal finances and financial literacy called “Cash Course,” and produced by PragerU, a conservative content business. The state Board of Education has been considering making the course, which contains no political or controversial content, part of the content eligible to complete course requirements for students in the Learn Everywhere program.

Learn Everywhere, an innovative education program unique to New Hampshire, allows students to earn credit for learning outside the classroom. The program, which has been under development since 2018, was first approved in August 2020 in a 4-3 vote.

The State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday, with Chair Drew Cline’s abstention, to approve the PragerU content as a half-credit course. The class is offered for free for any student who chooses to take it.

The approval comes despite heavy, organized opposition from progressives and teachers unions against PragerU.

Their opposition is not based on the content itself but rather on the provider. Many of the people who spoke in opposition Thursday did not appear to have seen the Cash Course content under consideration.

“I am appalled by today’s Board of Education decision to allow PragerU to operate in New Hampshire. I will fight for every child in our state to receive a quality education, and I will never allow an extreme right-wing organization to influence their learning,” Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig said.

Craig is also running for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Warmington has been using the PragerU issue to campaign and fundraise for weeks, attacking “their extremist views.” Warmington declined to respond when asked to identify what “extremist views” were in the personal finance content under consideration by the Board of Education.

Warmington suffered a political faceplant early this week with an unfounded complaint that PragerU was falsely presenting itself as an actual university and potentially violating New Hampshire state law. Attorney General John F0rmella dismissed Warmington’s complaint, noting the website explicitly announces PragerU is not a university and that the law Warmington cited only applies to entities incorporated in New Hampshire. It was embarrassing for a career attorney who spent two decades at the Sheehan & Gordon law firm.

“There’s been a lot of misinformation about Learn Everywhere and this course,” Cline said during Thursday’s board meeting.

PragerU is not partnering with the state, getting a state contract, or being paid any taxpayer money, Cline said. Further, the PragerU class is not required for any New Hampshire student. Additionally, PragerU plans to offer its class on a website independent of the wider PragerU offerings.

The association with the conservative media personality Dennis Prager is the major red flag for the Cash Course opponents. Dozens of people who were against PragerU’s application spoke Thursday, accusing the conservative non-profit of pushing an extremist agenda and even likening it to the Ku Klux Klan.

Supporters say that while PragerU is unapologetically conservative in its philosophy, it is far from being an extremist organization. And they note that many of the union members and progressives who say its politics are “too extreme” have supported far-left “critical race theory” content from racists like Ibram X. Kendi in New Hampshire’s K-12 classrooms.

Board Member Richard Sala said the board had approved several Learn Everywhere options and charter schools with decidedly left-wing ideologies. He said the board is not trying to push an agenda other than giving all parents the most choices for their children.

“I trust parents to make good calls for their kids more than I trust the government to,” Sala said.

Sala noted that while PragerU is a conservative, so are at least half the families in New Hampshire.

“A lot of PragerU material is mainstream political thought in this country,” Sala said. “You can’t censor half the ideas in this country.”

It wasn’t all about fears children were being indoctrinated into the Republican Party. Deb Howes, head of the New Hampshire American Federal of Teachers, the state’s second biggest teachers union, claimed that allowing students to take the Cash Course class for a half credit would lower the state’s education standards.

“Watching a video and doing a worksheet doesn’t help you remember it when it counts,” Howe said.

Cline said PragerU’s Cash Course class covers a little more material than another financial literacy program already approved for Learn Everywhere. That program did not receive any public opposition when it was approved.

Board Member Ryan Terrell said the opposition to PragerU is ruled by a bias against all conservatives, which assumes any Republican is a homophobic racist.

“You say you want open dialogue and then attack a whole swath of people’s ideals,” Tyrell said.

The opponents revealed they are ultimately against New Hampshire families having real choices when it comes to educating their children, Tyrell said.

“The overall message was anti-choice. It’s simply that black and white,” Terrell said.

In a battle between educational content and political rhetoric, it appears content may have won the day at the State Board of Education Thursday.

At issue is a video course on financial literacy offered by PragerU that the board is considering adding to the curriculum of the state’s Learn Everywhere program. Board chairman Drew Cline said the content “has a lot of value” and is suitable for the flexible, self-directed education that is part of the non-traditional Learn Everywhere model.

Critics, like Deb Howes, president of the New Hampshire chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, had not watched the videos and were not familiar enough with the content to discuss it. Instead, they objected to the source of the content — PragerU, a politically-conservative nonprofit founded by media personality Dennis Prager.

Asked by Cline if the 15-video course met the appropriate educational standards, Howes, the head of the second largest teachers union in the state, declined to answer and appeared not to have viewed any of the content.

“I cannot speak to whether it goes into depth enough; I am not a financial literacy teacher,” Howes said.

State Rep. David Luneau (D-Hopkinton) bashed the board’s handling of the application and called PragerU a “racist propaganda mill.”

“I find it outrageous and unacceptable that this board would take a controversial subject and slip it into a meeting on Aug. 10 when hopefully nobody’s watching,” Luneau said.

However, when asked about the specific content, Luneau also appeared to be unfamiliar with it and pointedly refused to say if he watched any of the videos under consideration about the board.

Some critics, however, had taken the time to review the materials. Mark MacLean, executive director of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association, watched all 15 videos in the “Cash Course” series and said there is plenty of good material in the class.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with the videos I watched,” MacLean said.

But MacLean did express concerns about the depth of the content and whether or not it is sufficient to be an accredited high school class. PragerU’s proposal sought to have students who took the class earn a half credit.

“The content is good; I just don’t think as a standalone it’s enough to provide students with a comprehensive financial literacy unit,” MacLean said.

But elected Democrats and progressive activists who attacked the board’s consideration of the content weren’t interested in the course but rather the source. They denounced PragerU and expressed concerns that curious students might become intrigued and begin exploring other content from the conservative nonprofit.

“Students and parents who view the first video in PragerU’s financial literacy course are one mouse-click away from a ‘Parent Action Guide’ that urges scrutiny of any public official who parents suspect is involved in topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the left-leaning Boston Globe warned.

Both Democrats running for governor in 2024, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, have announced their opposition.

Via social media, Warmington urged the board to reject what she called “radical & unaccredited PragerU into New Hampshire schools,” though she has also not indicated what part of the proposed course is objectionable.

And House Democratic Caucus Leader Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester) claimed PragerU has content “that suggests slavery was ‘no big deal,’” and “peddle anti-LGBTQ+ hate.” Despite repeated requests, Wilhelm declined to provide any examples to bolster his claims.

Ultimately, it appeared the solution may be technology, not politics.

Brandon Ewing, with PragerU, told the board Thursday that the organization planned to create a separate website for the New Hampshire Cash Course class, one that was not linked to the wider PragerU site. It was a detail the board had not been made aware of.

“We’re working through the format details on the technical end,” Ewing said.

Cline said removing the Cash Course class from the PragerU main website would allow families to view it without concerns over the rest of PragerU’s content.

“We heard a lot of testimony that the content is strong, but a lot of concerns about the context. Having it as a standalone entity could change the whole conversation,” Cline said. Cline also asked Ewing to show the board more of the materials that will be used to access student progress in the course.

Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to table the application until next month, when it can see the proposed website and review additional materials.

“This is good financial literacy content, and we need to make sure that all of our young people have that skill going forward in life,” said Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut told WMUR after the board meeting. “I think that it got overly politicized, and I think there was some interest in doing that, and I’m disappointed that this is where we ended up.”

New Hampshire’s political social media was abuzz Wednesday over word the state Board of Education was considering approving a video series from the conservative nonprofit PragerU for the Learn Everywhere program.

Granite State Democrats were in high dudgeon, filling Twitter with accusations of hate and homophobia. House Democratic Caucus Leader Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester) warned PragerU content depicts cartoons “that suggest slavery was ‘no big deal,’” and “peddle anti-LGBTQ+ hate.”

It was an odd accusation, given the video series in question is about personal finances and balancing your checkbook.

The PragerU course under consideration (which can be viewed here) is called “Cash Course” and covers the basics of financial literacy, from how paychecks work, to getting a bank loan, to how to invest for retirement. The videos viewed by NHJournal do not discuss politics or present information with a political slant, and there was no mention of either slavery or sexuality.

“It’s disingenuous of the Democrats not to look at the actual material before making a judgment,” Frank Edelblut, New Hampshire’s Education Commissioner, said of the controversy.

PragerU, started by talk radio personality Dennis Prager, seeks to add its online financial literacy course to the state’s Learn Everywhere offerings. Learn Everywhere allows students to earn high school credits for skills and knowledge attained outside the classroom through optional undertakings.

In the wake of New Hampshire Democrats’ coordinated complaints, State Board of Education chair Drew Cline said he has heard from people upset about the state using PragerU content. But he has not heard from anyone who has looked at the materials and videos.

“The fear-mongering being done about this is unfortunate because these financial literacy videos are quite useful and entirely apolitical and provide students with quite valuable knowledge of how to manage their finances,” Cline said.

The videos offer straightforward lessons about basic money handling, free from political ideology or any of the hot-button culture war topics sometimes associated with Prager. That hasn’t stopped leading Democrats from blasting the state for even considering PragerU for Learn Everywhere, though none of them appear to have viewed the actual content.

“PragerU does not reflect New Hampshire values, and I’m appalled this organization has been put forward to work with NH students,” said Democratic candidate for governor Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig. “As governor, I’ll work with New Hampshire educators to strengthen public schools so every student receives a quality education.” 

Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington (D-District 2), who is running against Craig in the Democratic primary, said adding PragerU to the Learn Everywhere program would harm democracy.

“Pushing PragerU’s radical, political bias into our education system is yet another attempt by Edelblut to intentionally undermine the bedrock of our democracy. As governor, I’ll fight to strengthen our public schools so all NH children have the opportunity to succeed & thrive,” Warmington said.

NHJournal asked Rep. Wilhelm where in the PragerU series slavery is referred to as ‘no big deal’ as he claims. The top House Democrat declined to respond.

Cline and Edelblut argue the critics haven’t reviewed the material in question and don’t understand how Learn Everywhere works. 

“The important thing for people to realize, contrary to some irresponsible reporting this week, PragerU is not up for approval. The financial literacy course created by PragerU is up for approval,” Cline said.

Conservatives point to a double standard from Democrats in the area of academics, such as their support for racist classroom material in New Hampshire classrooms from author Ibram X. Kendi, who teaches White students are inherently bigoted due to their skin color.

“We have approved charter schools with strong left-of-center perspectives, we’ve approved schools with strong DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) components, and no one complained about that. We’re not trying to impose a political view on students; we’re trying to create options for students,” Cline said.

Learn Everywhere gives New Hampshire families more options for educational opportunities by allowing students to earn high school credits from approved programs at no cost to New Hampshire taxpayers. The Learn Everywhere classes are entirely optional and are meant to encourage students to learn outside the classroom.

Financial literacy is a valuable skill that many children are not learning at home. That puts them behind when they enter the working world or when they try to navigate decisions like taking out student loans.

“I wish somebody had taught me that in high school,” Cline said. “Not every kid has people in their family who can teach them basics about how to manage their finances.”

Learn Everywhere includes robotics courses, science classes, karate classes, music classes, and even after-school programs at High Brothers and Big Sisters venues.

“We think it’s important that our students learn,” Edelblut said. “Different students are going to connect in different ways.”

If the course is approved, students who opt for the PragerU financial literacy class would get a half credit, meaning they would still need to take another financial literacy class in order to get the whole credit.

Cline understands people who are turned off by Prager’s political views would be concerned about the course. That is why he encourages everyone to look at the videos online, which are posted for free. 

“There is nothing in this proposal that is political at all,” Cline said.

The State Board of Education will take up PrageU’s application on Thursday.