Latest news with #AccuracyinMedia
Fox News
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Watchdog group exposes red state college administrator explaining 'loophole' around anti-DEI law
FIRST ON FOX: Newly released video appears to show an administrator in the Florida university system bragging about the ways her school is skirting a state law prohibiting the practice of DEI. The video, obtained by conservative watchdog Accuracy in Media (AIM) and posted online, shows University of South Florida St. Petersburg administrator Heather Klišanin explaining to an undercover investigator how the school had attempted to skirt Florida law banning public funds from promoting DEI by using a "loophole." "It is a student-funded area, so it changes some things in regards to what we are able to do because student-funded things are not affected by the changes in regulation and law," Klišanin, director of student conduct and ethical development and dean of student ambassadors at USF St. Petersburg, can be seen saying on video, suggesting that the school is using student fees to fund DEI programs. "I was hoping it would be similar here that they weren't totally getting rid of DEI," the unidentified woman says to Klišanin at another point in the video. Klišanin responds, "Yeah, and even our students, we just have to make sure, like any of our programming and things like that, is mostly done through student government because if it's student-funded, they can't stop it. But like, our departments can't spend any money on that." Klišanin went on to explain that she has students who do "outreach and education" on DEI issues, but the department can no longer directly fund those efforts, "but if they partnered with student government and student government paid for it, then we can." Klišanin described the loophole as "red tape" but said "Yeah" when asked whether the school administrators could still have a "supportive role" in the DEI efforts. "Loopholes?" the undercover individual asked. "Yeah," Klišanin responded. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a university spokesperson said they are complying with the law. "The University of South Florida follows all state and federal guidance, policies, and laws related to DEI. USF does not operate a DEI office," the spokesperson said. "As soon as USF was provided the hidden camera video of Heather Klišanin, we began a review of the matter, which is ongoing. Upon initial review of the edited video, it appears that she is referencing Florida law and Florida Board of Governors regulation on DEI that includes an exemption for student-led programs funded by student fees. However, after seeing the video and to ensure USF continues to comply with state and federal laws, USF will require her to complete additional training." The Florida law does provide a carveout for student-funded activities, but in a press release, AIM suggests that the "loophole" talked about in the video might not be legal either. "However, this 'loophole' employed by USF is still likely in violation of state law, because not all student fees are paid through private sources," the press release states. "As of fall 2022, over 74% of Florida residents enrolled at USF received a taxpayer-funded scholarship through the Bright Futures program." "'Federal funds' are those funds provided to the university or direct support organization for a university directly or indirectly by an appropriation by Congress," the Florida regulation states on the university system's website. "This includes financial aid provided to the university by or on behalf of a student attending the university if that financial aid is provided to the student via a governmental aid or grant program. State and federal funds do not include student fees to support student-led organizations notwithstanding any speech or expressive activity by such organizations which would otherwise violate this section, provided that the student fees must be allocated to student-led organizations pursuant to written policies or regulations of each state university, as applicable." Later in the video, Klišanin says, "We're not going to stop supporting the students that we've been supporting in that space and right now it's student-funded, so even if a name changes, they won't have to take away the support." The video also shows AIM President Adam Guillette confronting Klišanin, who denies she has been pushing to skirt the DEI laws. "You're going to need to talk to Carrie O'Brion," Klišanin says, pointing Guillette to the school's communications director. Later in the video, Guillette speaks to O'Brion, who seemingly acknowledges that something improper had taken place. "That's not the policy," O'Brion said when confronted about the idea of switching DEI programs to student-funded efforts or changing the names of certain programs. "DEI is a poisonous ideology that leads to division, hate and antisemitism," Guillette told Fox News Digital in a statement. "It has no place in our education system, and both Gov. DeSantis and the Trump administration must ensure these programs are rooted out of public universities and K-12 schools." In a statement to Fox News Digital, DeSantis communications director Bryan Griffin told Fox News Digital, "Circumventing state laws & rules prohibiting DEI in public universities is unacceptable. We are looking into the matter and, to the extent public dollars are being used toward DEI, there will be consequences. 'Additonal training' will not be a sufficient response." The newly uncovered video comes weeks after Fox News Digital exclusively reported on a Florida professor bragging about how he too had found ways around the state's DEI ban. The professor, Dr. Haywood Brown, former associate vice president of academic affairs at the University of South Florida, resigned shortly after Fox News Digital's reporting. "With the details of Mr. Brown's actions and public commitments to violating state law and academic standards surfacing to our attention, our office has immediately ensured his relationship with our university system has ended," Griffin told Fox News Digital at the time. "This individual's employment at the University of South Florida is over today, and he is no longer welcome to work in Florida education."
Fox News
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Dallas schools to crack down on trans athletes in girls' sports after video of official revealing 'loopholes'
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office announced Friday that the Dallas Independent School District ("ISD") has agreed to an order to ensure the district is not violating state law by allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports. The agreement comes after Paxton requested records from Dallas ISD in February following the release of a video that showed a school district official explaining loopholes to a parent and how they could get their biologically male child on a girls' sports team via an altered birth certificate. The video, which was made by an undercover journalist from the outlet Accuracy in Media, showed a Dallas ISD LGBTQ youth coordinator saying that Texas had not made a distinction between providing either an original or updated birth certificate for school sport gender eligibility. "Always refining, you know? They find the loopholes in everything," the advisor said in the video. "I tell people all the time, I will go to jail for saving their child's life," the advisor continued. "I guess no conservative kids come out gay." Later in January, a school official from the Irving ISD was seen telling an undercover journalist about the same loophole in another Accuracy in Media video. "Could you legally change the gender on a birth certificate? I don't know enough about that subject," the Irving ISD official was seen saying in the video. "If you can get that done, and you turn us a birth certificate that says 'this gender,' that's the gender we go with." Paxton then requested an extensive list of documents from Dallas ISD and Irving ISD on Feb. 6. On March 31, Paxton filed a legal petition to conduct depositions of key Dallas ISD officials to ensure that the District is not violating Texas law by permitting biological males to participate in girls' sports. Now, Paxton has come to an agreement with the Dallas ISD to ensure that such loopholes won't be exploited. "I urge all other school districts to fulfill their legal obligations to protect girls' sports and end any attempts to circumvent Texas law. Biological males have no place in girls' sports, and any Texas public schools doing otherwise will be held accountable," Paxton said in a statement. In June 2023, Texas passed the Save Women's Sports Act, which bans trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, and only allows students to compete in the gender category listed on their birth certificate. The law only allows schools to recognize changes made to birth certificates that were made to correct a clerical error. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ken Paxton wants Dallas school officials under oath on transgender athlete policy
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants to question Dallas Independent School District officials under oath as part of his investigation into the district's policy on transgender athletes. Paxton on Monday announced his office has filed a legal petition to do so. Earlier this year, Paxton's office launched an investigation of the district's 'unwritten policy' that allegedly encouraged parents of transgender students to alter their childs' birth certificates in other states. Paxton initially requested several records regarding the district's compliance with a 2021 state law that bans transgender students from competing in sports matching their identifying gender. The request came after the district's LGBT Youth Program Coordinator, Mahoganie Gaston, suggested in a video published by Accuracy in Media, a Washington-based nonprofit that students could play in sports matching updated birth certificates. Dallas ISD did not immediately return a request for comment. Changes to a person's gender on birth certificates is illegal in Texas, but can still be done in other states. In the January video, Gaston suggests changing a child's certificate in another state is a 'loophole' to the Texas law. Paxton's petition requests several Dallas ISD officials to appear for depositions, including Gaston, district superintendent Stephanie Elizalde and members of the school board. 'ISD officials who have participated in this madness will be held accountable,' Paxton said in a news release Monday. 'The systematic effort by Dallas ISD officials to circumvent Texas law will be exposed and stopped.' Dallas ISD is not the only school district affected by the undercover videos and subsequent inquiries from the attorney general. Paxton also sent a letter in February to Irving Independent School District after Accuracy in Media filmed a separate video similarly sending an undercover representative to ask about the district's policy on student athletes. Gov. Greg Abbott posted about the video on X, calling for Irving ISD to be investigated, and the district administrator featured in the video resigned shortly after. We can't wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas AG Ken Paxton accuses Coppell ISD of violating Texas' 'critical race theory' ban
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued leaders of the Coppell Independent School District for allegedly flouting state restrictions on teaching 'critical race theory' in public schools, based on an undercover video published by a conservative activist group. In the lawsuit filed last week in Dallas County, Paxton's office accused Coppell ISD administrators of violating a state law that, among other prescriptions, prohibits schools from teaching that 'one race or sex is inherently superior to another' or requiring students to understand the New York Times' 1619 Project, a Pulitzer Prize-winning report that examined U.S. history from the date when enslaved people first arrived to America. The school district has about 13,000 students, according to state data, most of whom are Asian and Hispanic while about a quarter are white. The lawsuit points to a video published in February by Accuracy in Media, a group with right-wing ties, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate and bigotry targeting marginalized communities. The two-minute-long video depicts an undercover representative of Accuracy in Media talking to Evan Whitfield, Coppell ISD's director of curriculum and instruction. 'Our concern is more that they're going to, and I don't know where you are politically, but it's like, learn a [Make America Great Again] version of history instead of an accurate depiction of real world events,' the undercover person told Whitfield. 'One thing that I love about this district is that despite what our state standards say and despite what, you know, is going on, we do what's right for kids,' Whitfield responded in the video. The remarks are among the ones cited by Paxton's office in the lawsuit. 'Liberal administrators who want to ignore state law and unlawfully push divisive and racist CRT curriculum in classrooms will be held responsible for their actions,' Paxton said in a statement Wednesday that drew attention to the suit. 'Texas children deserve to receive the best education in the world, not have woke ideology forced upon them.' A request for comment sent to Coppell ISD spokespeople Wednesday returned an automatic response that the school system is closed this week for spring break. Gov. Greg Abbott signed in 2021 legislation that prescribes how teachers in Texas classrooms can talk about American racism history and current events. The state joined a short list of those across the nation that sought to ban the teaching of 'critical race theory' in K-12 public school classrooms — an advanced academic concept that discusses systemic racism and is more often found in law school and college syllabi, according to scholars. The discipline is not taught in public schools but the term has become shorthand for some conservatives' criticism of how children learn about race and racism. As the 2021 measure was debated in the Legislature, proponents argued they were trying to rid public education of personal biases. Educators and education advocates expressed worries that politics were dictating instruction for the state's 5.5 million public schoolchildren. The video of the Coppell ISD administrator was first published by Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at Accuracy in Media and self-described 'school choice evangelist.' Accuracy in Media has drawn controversy in the past, most recently in August at Columbia University. The group's Center for Investigative Journalism is directed by Cliff Kincaid, who the Southern Poverty Law Center said 'is actually an unrepentant propagandist for extremist right-wing causes who knows few boundaries in his attempts to smear liberal foes.' On Wednesday, Accuracy in Media touted its undercover video and celebrated Paxton's office citing it in the suit. 'This lawsuit proves why investigative journalism matters,' the group said in a statement. 'Accuracy in Media has repeatedly exposed how school districts violate state laws and mislead parents about what is being taught in classrooms. Now, thanks to our work, Texas is taking action.' Disclosure: Southern Poverty Law Center and New York Times have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. We can't wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Axios
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Texas AG sues Coppell ISD after conservative activist video claims district teaches critical race theory
The Texas attorney general is suing Coppell ISD, alleging the district is teaching critical race theory. Why it matters: The state's top conservative leaders want to eliminate teachings about race and personal identity in general. The anti-CRT push is part of the broader goal to give parents more control over what their children learn in school. Driving the news: Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit Wednesday, saying Texas students deserve to "not have woke ideology forced upon them." The lawsuit stems from a heavily edited video posted by conservative media group Accuracy in Media that shows a Coppell school administrator saying the district doesn't always follow state standards on certain topics. State of play: The lawsuit says the Coppell school district's curriculum is violating a 2021 state law that bans kindergarten through 12th grade students from being taught critical race theory, a college-level topic that says racism is baked into U.S. history. Zoom out: President Trump issued an executive order in January to stop "indoctrination in K-12 education." The order says teaching white privilege or unconscious bias "actually promotes racial discrimination." Zoom in: The video shows an interviewer saying he's concerned students will "learn a MAGA version of history instead of an accurate version of real-world events." The school administrator responds, "One thing that I love about this district, despite what our state standards say and despite what, you know, is going on, we do what's right for kids." Reality check: The video was posted Feb. 25, but it's unclear when it was recorded. The administrator wears a protective face mask during the conversation, and the interviewer refers to orders signed by the governor "a few months ago." The interviewer doesn't mention critical race theory, but the video's text says the discussion was about the topic. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill banning CRT in June 2021. Coppell ISD is closed this week for spring break, and a district spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. The intrigue: The video ends with text that says, "Enacting universal school choice is the only way to reform education in Texas." The Texas Legislature is again considering school choice vouchers enabling families to use state money to pay for private school tuition or homeschooling. The big picture: Passing a statewide voucher program is a top priority for the governor. The measure failed during the last legislative session. During last year's primaries, Abbott targeted fellow Republicans who opposed vouchers. Context: The Senate has approved Senate Bill 2, giving families $10,000 a year per student to fund tuition at an accredited private school. The program is estimated to cost Texas $1 billion in fiscal year 2027. House Bill 3 would put $1 billion toward education savings accounts. Threat level: Critics of school vouchers say the programs pull money from the public education system and fund wealthy people's private school tuition. The other side: Proponents say vouchers help lower-income students attend better schools rather than their underperforming local campuses. They also say the funding enables parents to make the best choice for their kids.
