One of California’s most underperforming school districts is spending nearly $300,000 teaching kids to rap, raising the alarm amongDEI watchdogs.

In January, the Merced City School District in the Central Valley — one of the state’s lower-performing school districtsbased on test performances— signed a $270,000 agreement with Fresno-based School Yard Rap, which describes its approach to learning as “edutainment.”

The contracts include a summer “Rap Camp” and an “African American Affinity Group”, which is capped for 100African American students, raising questions about whether the programming complies with federal law.

“Schools cannot include or exclude students from programs and activities based on race or ethnicity — it’s against the law,” said Erika Sanzi, senior director of communications at Defending Education, an advocacy group that tracks equity-focused programming in schools.

In a little over a year, Merced has handed out three contracts worth a total of $610,000 to School Yard Rap, which operates across 28 states, including New York, New Jersey and Texas.

Programming includes history lessons, songwriting, DJing and performances. But the possibility of race-based programming in Merced public schools is now on the radar of federal officials.

“It is illegal for the government to offer benefits solely on the basis of race,” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division told The Post in statement. “We have not had the opportunity to investigate these allegations, but if true, they are troubling.”

District officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment by phone and email, but Brandon Brown, a former school teacher and founder of School Yard Rap, disputed that the programming is exclusionary.

“This camp specifically — the African American Affinity Camp — is open to every single student grades 3rd to 8th, focusing on African American history and the diaspora,” Brown told The Post.

“I think this is politically driven and the reason this is being called out.”

Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos