Waste of the Day: Controversy at Professional Societies
Topline: OpenTheBooks.com’s team of auditors has identified three professional societies whose taxpayer-funded grants and contracts should be reviewed from the Department of Government Efficiency for potential cuts. The groups have received at least $19.6 million from the federal government since 2020 while pushing controversial values on schoolchildren.
Key facts: The Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America represents 200,000 physical education teachers and was paid $82,245 to train teachers in the Department of Defense’s K-12 schools. They also received $2.5 million from the Centers for Disease Control.
SHAPE’s National Sex Education Standards, published on the CDC’s website, argue that 2nd graders should be able to define the term gender identity. By 5th grade, children should be able describe the effect of puberty blockers on those who identify as transgender, and by 8th grade they should be able to define anal sex.
The standards were written together with Gender Spectrum, a nonprofit that supports the idea of “neogenders” based on objects and animals like rockgender and foxgender.
The National Council for History Education has received at least $1.3 million since 2020, according to federal funding displayed at USAspending.gov, but the organization’s tax returns show $2.4 million.
The group hosted a presentation in which one speaker suggested that today’s students may be complicit in the crime of slavery in America’s past. “Complicity can exist without the act of owning slaves, but people don't like to be told that they're complicit,” she said.
The North American Association for Environmental Education has received $15.7 million in federal funds since 2020 while hosting seminars such as “Decoding Whiteness in Environmental Education.”
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor payments with the world's largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Summary: Organizations that do not accept taxpayer funding are free to promote controversial opinions, but groups using public money must also be accountable to the American people.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
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