EXCLUSIVE: As the liberal activist organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) faces federal fraud charges, an education watchdog warns that the group continues to integrate its «far-left content and materials» into classrooms as early as kindergarten in more than 40 states across the U.S.

Nicole Neily, president of Defending Education, which was once labeled an «extremist» group by SPLC, told Fox News Digital that «unbeknownst to parents, the Southern Poverty Law Center has been poisoning pupils’ minds around the country for years with its toxic curriculum.»

Defending Education published a new exposé detailing how an SPLC education program called «Learning for Justice» (formerly «Teaching Tolerance») has been integrated into K-12 lesson plans and materials in 169 school districts in 42 states, plus Washington, D.C. According to the watchdog, the program reinforces «far-left cultural and political ideologies,» including «anti-racism, Black Lives Matter, gender ideology and queer theory, white privilege, white supremacy, whiteness, and transgenderism.»

Neily said that due to SPLC’s integration in schools, «issues such as queer theory, white privilege, and anti-racism have supplanted traditional coursework in history, social studies, and other core classes,» which she said is «teaching children to view themselves and others through the lens of identity politics, and that America is forever stained by its original sin.»

CRITICS SAY K-12 ETHNIC STUDIES PUSH TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT CISHETERONORMATIVITY, BLACK PANTHER PARTY

According to Neily, the materials «intentionally sow division and mistrust between students at a formative stage of their development,» adding that «it is deeply disappointing that administrators and educators believe this is an appropriate use of finite classroom time and resources.»

The SPLC did not respond to requests for comment on Defending Education’s report.

The report reveals that SPLC’s website and documents can be found on school district webpages, in teacher professional development and trainings, classroom lessons, district-wide curricula, Social Emotional Learning, social justice standards, and district antiracism and equity policies and resources.

SPLC’s Learning for Justice program, which the report says is focused on «education for liberation,» encourages the implementation of a set of anchor standards and «age-appropriate learning outcomes» divided into the domains of identity, diversity, justice and action.

Under the action category, students are encouraged to commit to join with «diverse people to plan and carry out collective action against exclusion, prejudice and discrimination» and to be «thoughtful and creative in our actions in order to achieve our goals.»

Defending Education said the New York State Education Department added «equity revisions» to its NY Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks that aligned the benchmarks with SPLC’s social justice standards.

The report also notes that the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian lists Learning for Justice as a recommended resource in certain lesson materials. It further points to guidance and curriculum resources from the California Department of Education and Illinois State Board of Education, as well as Chicago Public Schools, that include or reference the standards.

CHICAGO SCHOOLS BLASTED BY PARENTS’ RIGHTS WATCHDOG OVER ‘APPALLING’ LGBT AGENDA REVEALED IN UNEARTHED DOCS

Opponents of Critical Race Theory attend a packed Loudoun County School board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia, on June 22, 2021, which erupted into chaos and led to two detentions. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

According to the report, Learning for Justice materials are also incorporated into curriculum and lesson plans for younger students in several districts. The report cites examples, including Cambridge Public Schools in Massachusetts, integrating the Social Justice Standards into junior kindergarten through fifth-grade physical education, and Yonkers Public Schools in New York, using the standards in pre-kindergarten project-based learning units. It also points to Princeton Public Schools in New Jersey updating its early childhood curriculum using the framework.

Rhyen Staley, director of research at Defending Education, posited that the «amount of influence the SPLC’s programming and content has had on district policies, learning standards, curriculums, and lessons is a real concern for families who value a bias-free learning environment.»

«No organization that labels concerned parents as ‘extremists’ and members of ‘hate groups’ should have its biased content used in K-12 schools,» said Staley, adding that «district leaders should end the use of this organization’s materials and ideas.»

SPLC, an Alabama-based organization that describes itself as a «beacon of hope» for «fighting White supremacy,» was indicted late last month on federal fraud charges from a years-long alleged covert paid informant program that Justice Department officials said allocated millions of dollars in donations to a network of informants affiliated with or closely tied to White supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.

The 11-count indictment accuses the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to commit concealed money laundering. According to the Justice Department, the SPLC sent some $3 million to its paid informants between 2014 and 2023, including people affiliated with the United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America and the Aryan Nations-linked Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, among others.

NEO-NAZIS, ‘SADISTIC’ BIKERS AND CHARLOTTESVILLE ORGANIZER: 5 OF THE MOST SHOCKING SPLC INFORMANTS

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, left, and SPLC interim President and CEO Bryan Fair are shown in a split image as the Justice Department pursues charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)

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SPLC has denied all allegations of wrongdoing, with a spokesperson defending its work monitoring White supremacist groups and other violent extremist organizations — including via the paid informant program — telling Fox News Digital that their use has «saved lives.»

Fox News Digital reached out to the New York State Education Department, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, California Department of Education, Illinois State Board of Education, Chicago Public Schools, Cambridge Public Schools, Yonkers Public Schools and Princeton Public Schools for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Preston Mizell contributed to this report.

Llegamos a Cuba con el pretexto de hacer un viaje turístico. El tiempo para esta cobertura será de una semana exacta, buscando contar y documentar la crisis energética, social y económica que vive el país que vuelve a estar en los titulares de los medios del mundo. Nos recibe la desolación: una población para la cual vivir hoy es subsistir. Caminar kilómetros para buscar lo que queda en las bodegas, donde acceden a lo que les corresponde según la libreta, y luego comprar lo que puedan en algún negocio de la capital para completar, en muchos casos, apenas una comida al día.

La Habana nos recibe casi sin turismo, opacada por la suciedad y el abandono. La vieja gloria de la ciudad hoy se desmorona lentamente. Las fachadas de los solares se descascaran. De a ratos, parece la postal de un país en guerra: edificios derruidos y otros directamente reducidos a escombros. Familias que viven con el temor de ser víctimas de otro derrumbe. Otras que padecen la escasez de medicamentos, y otras que simplemente buscan planear la salida.

“¿Cómo está la situación en Cuba?”, le preguntamos a un hombre que nos invita a pasar a su casa. “De difícil a imposible en ese tramo”, indica con las manos. Nos cuenta que vive de alquilar un pequeño cuarto y que en su misma casa también vive con sus padres: su papá, de 88 años y su mamá de 76. “Ahora mismo es imposible vivir en Cuba. Imposible. Mira las calles cómo están. Todo se está cayendo, todo se está derrumbando. Todas esas epidemias, producto de todas esas cochinadas que hay en las calles. No hay medicamentos en los hospitales. Mi padre peleó por esto”.

“¿Y sigue siendo revolucionario?“, le repreguntamos. Nos dice que no con su gesto.

Documental completo: Cuba, la isla que se apaga

La incertidumbre es total. Cuando llegamos a la isla, a fines de marzo, no ingresaba petróleo desde hacía tres meses. Mientras Donald Trump repite la frase “Cuba is next” y empieza a especularse sobre cuál puede ser el destino del castrismo, los cubanos sobreviven con hambre de todo tipo. En especial, con hambre de cambio y libertad. Así lo resume una mujer de 66 años que convive hace cinco con un dolor en la rodilla producto de una caída. “Que cambie todo esto y que podamos estar como las personas”, dice ante nuestra cámara, antes de quebrarse.

Hoy, en Cuba, se habla de alumbrones, más que de apagones, dada la extensión en el tiempo que suelen tener los cortes de energía. Eso hizo que volviera ese término acuñado en el llamado Período Especial, una de las mayores crisis en la historia de la isla. “¿Hace cuánto no tienen luz?”, le preguntamos a una mujer que estaba sentada en una vereda, en medio de un apagón. “Desde las seis de la tarde”, dice. “¿Y cuántos días estuvieron así con cortes?”, repreguntamos. “¿Cuántos días? Es todos los días, mami”, contesta la señora.

La crisis energética afecta el funcionamiento de lo más básico, desde el sistema de salud, hasta la conservación de alimentos. “Vea cuántas horas nos metemos sin luz. Estamos a expensas de que nos la quiten a las seis de la tarde y no la ponen más hasta las seis de la mañana… La comida ya hay que comprarla hoy en día en Cuba a diario, para que no se eche a perder. Un paquete de picadillo (carne picada). Porque si tú compras un paquete de pollo, que está carísimo -casi es un salario hoy en día-, se echa a perder”, cuenta un hombre que se define como “un comunista más, pero diciendo la verdad”.

Además de los recurrentes cortes de luz, muchas casas tampoco tienen agua. Circulan, a diario, camiones cisterna a los que la gente se acerca para cargar baldes y bidones. El transporte público es casi inexistente y las motos eléctricas, que funcionan con baterías recargables, y las bicicletas que empujan carros metálicos que trasladan hasta dos personas se convirtieron en los protagonistas de la calle.

Si bien todo el país está en estado crítico, lo que pasa en el sistema de salud y con el acceso a los medicamentos, es especialmente grave. Entramos a una farmacia en La Habana y lo comprobamos a simple vista. Los estantes vacíos ya indican que el panorama es desolador. Nos atiende una mujer afónica que nos confirma lo que la imagen del lugar revela por sí sola. Prácticamente, no hay nada. “Mira cómo estoy yo”, dice con una sonrisa.

A todas las adversidades, se suma el desplome del motor central de la economía cubana: el turismo. Hoteles cerrados y restaurantes vacíos son ahora el paisaje habitual de La Habana y los principales polos turísticos.

Recorrer los barrios de la capital por las noches es circular de a ratos por una ciudad fantasma, abandonada. Solo ofrece alivio la postal de alguna casa o comercio con generador o las voces de vecinos conversando y las risas de los chicos en la vereda. Todos esperando que el tiempo pase y se lleve con él la oscuridad que hoy lo inunda todo.

La Revolución impone sus símbolos, pero la realidad impone sus verdades. Cuba se está apagando. Y ya no hay relato que la engañe.

Esta es la historia de un país que se derrumba.

Pero también es la historia de un pueblo en busca de la esperanza y la dignidad perdidas.

Senate Republicans are taking stock of their relationship with the House GOP as they gear up for another key test of their unity across chambers. 

Dysfunction, miscommunications and wasted time have dotted the last few months of Republicans’ control of Congress, particularly during the longest government shutdown on record. 

Republicans in the upper chamber aren’t singling out others in the House who should bear responsibility, but they do agree that something needs to change as they plow forward to fund immigration operations for the next few years. 

TRUMP SAYS HE ‘CAN’T STAND’ SOME REPUBLICANS FOR REFUSING ONE KEY MOVE FOR HIS AGENDA

«I think we all need to get in a room and figure out what’s our plan,» Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital. «And how are we going to get things done for the American people? That has to be the goal, and right now something needs to change.»

Republicans are readying to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three and a half years through budget reconciliation, which will require near-perfect unanimity in both chambers to work, given that Democrats are getting cut out of the process. 

But divisions between the chambers were laid bare during the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, when House Republicans, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., refused to consider the Senate’s compromise plan to reopen the agency. 

That decision prolonged the shutdown for nearly a month, and spurred the necessity to turn to reconciliation. It also fostered frustration between the Senate and House at a time when leadership and President Donald Trump are calling for unity.

JOHNSON SCRAMBLES AS TRUMP, SENATE REPUBLICANS PRESSURE HOUSE TO FUND DHS

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., attends a Senate hearing in the U.S. Capitol. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Both Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have thin majorities to work with — Johnson more so than Thune. That reality isn’t something that’s lost on Senate Republicans, particularly on legislation that Democrats won’t support, and is so far preventing the knives from coming out in the upper chamber. 

«I mean, I think we understand the challenges that Mike has over there. He’s not king. He’s the speaker of the House,» Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital.
»And their margin of error is less than ours, proportionately. So I can’t imagine. I think he’s doing the very best he can.» 

Some Republicans argue that it’s more of a communication issue between the chambers than unfettered dysfunction in the House.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital he didn’t buy the «whole House’s dysfunction» argument, and instead said it was incumbent on senators to make more of an effort. 

«I think we have to take a little bit of ownership ourselves here in the Senate, and that’s certainly not [just] the leadership, but all of us,» Moreno said. «Because when we’re working on bills, we should have total, complete synchronicity with the House.» 

‘SHIRTS AND SKINS’: HOW ONE REPUBLICAN BRIDGED THE GAP TO PASS TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., speaks to reporters after voting at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2026. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

House Republicans, for example, contended that they were blindsided by the Senate deal to reopen the bulk of DHS earlier this year that carved out funding for ICE and Border Patrol.

 «We’ve got to be able to make sure we’re communicating better and working through the issues,» Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. «The House isn’t our enemy. We gotta be able to resolve all the issues on a piece of legislation. We have differences of opinion. OK, let’s work them out.»

The issue of communication is one that, since Republicans took control of both chambers last year, was largely handled by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the former GOP senator who acted as a de facto liaison between both chambers for major legislative pushes. 

When asked if Republicans needed a Mullin 2.0, Lankford said that the main points of communication fell on Thune and Johnson.

And Thune has not been quick to criticize Johnson or House Republicans publicly and noted that the nature of both chambers and how they operate would lead to issues along the way. 

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«We obviously have a 60-vote threshold,» Thune said.
»We need Democrats. You know, he doesn’t need Democrats, but he needs every Republican, and that’s a real challenge on a good day. And, you know, sometimes there aren’t a lot of good days around here.»

Conversely, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., argued that despite the issues, if Democrats were in control of the chambers, Americans would have been hit with the largest tax hike in decades had Republicans not mustered a unified front to pass Trump’s «big, beautiful bill.» 

«All of that would have been in the opposite if the Democrats had been in the majority and been able to do what they wanted to do to raise taxes,» Barrasso told Fox News Digital.