Alaska’s education department is actively training classroom teachers to serve as left-wing cultural evangelists, pushing controversial beliefs about race, gender and identity on K-12th-grade students, before enlisting them as young activists.
Highlighted in a new report from the national watchdog group, Defending Education, Alaska’s embrace of this ideology is part of a wider, national movement spearheaded by groups like the hard-left nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
This organization promotes its “Learning for Justice” program, which seeks to integrate divisive content and materials into K-12 schools nationwide by offering a range of lessons, tools and other materials for teachers to incorporate into their classroom instruction. The SPLC program talks about the need for students to become activists who can politically advance notions about critical race theory, gender ideology, queer dogma, white privilege and historic victimhood.
Alaska teachers are trained to view traditional education through a lens of “unconscious bias,” incorporating tools like the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to unearth supposed hidden prejudices.
Defending Education’s 2026 report notes that SPLC’s Learning for Justice program is radically reshaping teacher training, classroom lessons and curriculum. It is also seamlessly woven into social-emotional learning (SEL), social justice standards and so-called antiracism and equity policies across the nation.
Alaska Department of Education is listed in the Defending Education report for its role in promoting and disseminating these ideas. Although SPLC’s programming is not explicitly mentioned in the Alaska material, the report highlights that Alaska’s new social studies curriculum is rife with SPLC-type content. Alaska’s January 2026 professional development module titled, “Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning,” urges teachers to embed activism into K-12 social studies classes across the state.
The social studies document instructs Alaska educators to employ critical race theory doctrine and to recognize so-called systemic and unconcious racism, while promoting “justice-oriented” citizenship that enlists students to become activists.
The module trains teachers to view traditional education through a lens of “unconscious bias,” incorporating tools like the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to unearth supposed hidden prejudices. It frames culture via “rings” encompassing gender, sexuality, and ethnicity, while validating “queer theory” and elements and various sexual identities under the guise of “affirming” student differences and “identities.”
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
Alaska educators are then directed to focus on “marginalized perspectives,” while crafting instruction around “counter-narratives,” social class struggle and the “root causes” of perceived injustices.
At one point, the document instructs teachers showcase efforts by “corporate mainstream media” to advance the causes of equity and inclusion.
According to Defending Education’s report, the true scope of SPLC’s influence on public education is difficult to fully measure due to a lack of public access to curricula, lessons, and textbooks at the district and school levels. Another complication is the fact that teachers can independently weave controversial content into daily lessons and assignments, with no real paper trail.
“Therefore, it is fair to assume that the use of Learning for Justice content is more widespread throughout K-12 education than this report is able to capture,” the report concludes.
TAKING ACTION
— Click here read the Alaska Education Department’s guidance for teachers.
— Click here to contact the Alaska Education Commissioner Deena Bishop.
14 Comments
Fire the entire department and start over. We’re done with it. If we’re paying for the department, we want transparency to look at where any additional monies and grants come from. A long time ago, a 3per blogger that warned about the SPLC and their insidious hooks. The focal point of education is reading, writing and arithmetic. Secondary is history, civics and science. We don’t need students time taken up with something that is not going to make them productive citizens.
The same and butt ugly marxism. If they do not indoctrinate and coerce they are laughed at because their ideology is antithetical to human thriving. They are responsible for so much death and suffering.
Who in the Alaska Department of Education reviewed and vetted this social studies curriculum? Did AI do it? Any reference to the Southern Poverty Law Center is utterly ridiculous. The SPLC is linked to a page titled, “The New Jim Crow”. The title itself is rife with bias and prejudice. Come on, Commissioner Bishop, you can and must do better. We should not be growing socialist activists through dividing students based on “culture” and race. This is exactly what communists want to do–divide us one against another. I suggest all in your Department read, “The Naked Communist” and think critically and then reflect on what they are doing. This social studies curriculum will add to even more parents removing their children from the public school system.
If I’m going to take you seriously David your commentary needs to be redirected to an actual target! Mike Dunleavy is the target that ought to have multiple arrows attached to his ineffective, spineless non leadership profile! He is the wasted money behind all this nonsense!
I can’t understand you or your wife for not holding him directly accountable! Is he married to your daughter? Disclose why you are covering for him!!!
Geez Joel, you’re a better journalist than this.
“This organization [nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)] promotes its “Learning for Justice” program, which seeks to integrate divisive content and materials into K-12 schools nationwide … The SPLC program talks about the need for students to become activists who can politically advance notions about critical race theory, gender ideology, queer dogma, white privilege and historic victimhood.” OK , Big Time scary, but then you write, “Although SPLC’s programming is not explicitly mentioned in the Alaska material, the report highlights that Alaska’s new social studies curriculum is rife with SPLC-type content.” “SPLC-type content”? This is bait-and-switch fearmongering journalism. Why even include SPLC in this story? Maybe because SPLC is a current boogeyman and will attract some eyeballs?
Why would anyone with half a brain send there kids, to these sick, woke, evil schools. There are so many other choices for your children.
I’m a grandmother with 4 in Anchorage schools. Can you enlighten me to the “other choices” for them please. List them out for everyone.
I know I can do the research myself but since you put this in your comment, I’m asking you. Thanks.
Private schools if you can afford them, or you can homeschool your children (actually quite easy to do these days). Homeschooling is what the majority of people taking their kids out of these indoctrination camps are doing. I don’t have school age children, but one of the ads I hear on the radio all the time is Frontier…contact them and just get an idea of how it all works. Now the rest of the research IS up to you.
Government ‘education’ isn’t education, it’s indoctrination.
I Agree, Why would anyone with half a brain send their children to these sick, woke, evil schools.
There are so many, other choices for your children.
Are you a christian?
Asks the non believer.
and homeschooling is indictination as well. So is religious education. I know the public schools are not the horror you think they are.
Changes are happening all the time, but I’m not seeing conservative parents involved. Anchorage School District had been reworking its social studies curriculum in mysterious ways, and has 6th graders take civics through a tribal sovereignty lens, instead of e pluribus unum. Service seminar school can teach pretty much what it wants, with little parent input. Will you work to help bring a coalition of parents together in oversight?