Failing California school district pays for black kids to learn to rap

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

In January, the Merced City School District in the Central Valley — one of the state’s lower-performing school districts based 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 100 African 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.