Idaho offers conservative videos to schools. Do Boise-area districts use them?
The Idaho Department of Education approved hundreds of conservative resources in 2024 for schools to use for free.
PragerU, the namesake of right-wing commentator and political analyst Dennis Prager, has been trying to get its materials into schools for years. Its website has decried what it called the left’s hijacking of the education system. PragerU is not an actual university or degree-granting institution, but a site that offers “educational, entertaining, pro-American videos for every age.”
But with the new school year starting, how many districts are actually using them?
In the Treasure Valley, none of the four biggest school districts are.
The Boise School District, Idaho’s second-largest with about 22,000 students, “opted not to use any PragerU content,” spokesperson Dan Hollar told the Statesman by email. Caldwell also doesn’t use any of the materials, spokesperson Jessica Watts said.
Nampa spokesperson Tyler Keefe said the same, and said PragerU “has not been considered by district administration.”
“Right now, our curriculum reviews are focused on High School Curriculum with Gradient Learning to ensure alignment with state standards,” Keefe said in an email. Nampa is Idaho’s fourth-largest district, with about 12,500 students.
West Ada, the state’s largest district with about 38,000 students, renewed the contracts with its social studies curriculum vendors in 2023, extending the agreements through 2030, spokesperson Niki Scheppers said by email.
“As a result, West Ada has not utilized or recommended PragerU resources,” Scheppers wrote. “Our existing vendor partnerships provide the necessary curricular support, and we have no need for additional materials or resources.”
Vallivue — the sixth-largest Idaho district, with about 10,000 students — also doesn’t use the materials, according to Assistant Superintendent Joey Palmer. The district is trying to scale back student’s screen time, and PragerU is technology-dependent, Palmer said by phone.
PragerU did not return an email asking how many Idaho school districts are using its materials.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield said in 2024 that she hoped PragerU’s materials generated discussion and conversation about what local communities wanted to see in the classroom.
“As with all curricular decisions in Idaho, a district’s decision on whether to use a particular set of materials is a matter of local control,” Critchfield said Friday in a statement.
School curricula have been hotly debated in recent years, including in Idaho. And it’s not the first time Idaho officials have brought in materials for local schools.
In 2023, Idaho announced a new U.S. history curriculum intended to be fair, factual and include “values of embracing patriotism,” according to previous Statesman reporting. The curriculum was launched by conservative media and education figure Bill Bennett, who was U.S. education secretary under President Ronald Reagan.
Some educators have raised concerns with PragerU’s content, saying it expresses extreme viewpoints. The group’s most popular YouTube video on its Kids channel includes the narrator saying “this content is for your child’s mind to fight the leftists’ lies.”
PragerU’s kids YouTube channel also hosts a series where children are given boxes with clues about a mystery state. For the Idaho version, the clues include a Bible, which the narrator says represents how Idaho has a “history built on Christianity.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
