Albuquerque Schools Diverted COVID Relief Funds to 'Anti-Racism' Training, Records Show
Hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for student learning recovery were spent on training programs for teachers and administrators.
Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds for "anti-racism" training for educators and administrators, according to records obtained by America First Legal. The funds, part of the American Rescue Plan, were intended to help students recover from learning loss incurred during the pandemic.
In 2021, the district approved $336,500 for training tied to the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB). Overall spending on the training program by APS ultimately neared $700,000, according to the watchdog group. School district officials stated they could not immediately confirm the exact spending figures or the precise amount derived from federal COVID relief funds.
PISAB's training materials have been described as instructing "White folks" to examine how they "became white" and defining race as a construct created by Europeans to assign human worth and maintain power. The training was delivered through the Anti-Racism Training Institute of the Southwest (ARTI), which had a long-standing relationship with PISAB.
The initiative involved hundreds of district employees. During the 2020-2021 school year, principals and assistant principals participated in "Community Conversations," a course ARTI developed specifically for the district using PISAB's principles. By July 2022, at least 721 APS staff members, from teachers to senior officials, had attended ARTI training, the records indicate.
"Leftist groups infiltrate schools because they know that they will have the opportunity to shape and control children's minds and social behavior," Bobby Crossin, counsel at America First Legal, said in a statement. "Here, the Albuquerque Public Schools took money intended by Congress to help students harmed by government lockdowns, and spent it on Critical Race Theory indoctrination sessions."
Julie Levin, senior counsel at America First Legal, expressed concern over the use of pandemic relief money at a time when schools were tasked with helping students catch up. "Instead of using that money to help the students, they were using it to pay for these anti-racism trainings," Levin told Fox News Digital. "What was happening was taxpaying dollars were being used to pay for training sessions that were supposed to be espousing anti-racism, but were actually being used to indoctrinate the teachers and administrators with respect to racism."
Records suggest APS had more extensive plans for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training, proposing nearly $1 million through 2024 that would reach approximately 2,000 individuals annually. District officials also considered extending the program to students, proposing in fall 2022 to involve 20 to 30 students from up to 10 middle and high schools in equity and anti-racism principles. APS officials told Fox News Digital that this student component was not implemented.
In 2023, ARTI provided APS with a $27,000 estimate for in-person "Undoing Racism" training. A spokesperson for APS defended the district's use of PISAB and ARTI trainings, stating that the programs were intended to improve student outcomes, including attendance and academic achievement. The spokesperson added that the district had not received criticism regarding the training.
America First Legal stated that PISAB continues to offer similar training sessions in cities across the United States. "America First Legal will continue exposing where public-school dollars are being diverted away from our children’s education toward ideological programs that divide Americans by race and reshape our schools around an insidious political agenda," Levin said.