New claim raises questions about Rochester district’s Southern Poverty Law Center denial
A former Rochester Public Schools (RPS) staff member says she received a packet of Teaching Tolerance materials — a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) — during a district professional development session in January 2024.
The claim raises new questions about Superintendent Dr. Kent Pekel’s recent statement that RPS does not use SPLC materials. The district pushed back on a letter from U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad who asked the Minnesota Department of Education to look into the influence of SPLC’s educational arm, Learning for Justice — formerly branded Teaching Tolerance — on RPS classrooms.
Pekel told reporters the district does not use “products from that curriculum,” and that the reference in Finstad’s letter was an “obscure, old” footnote in a 2022 school board document that was never voted on or adopted as curriculum.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: A former RPS staff member provided American Experiment with a copy of Teaching Tolerance documents that she says were used during a Jan. 19, 2024 professional development session, which she dated in a personal planner at the time. The date has not been independently verified through a district record or session agenda. American Experiment is seeking additional corroboration and has requested comment from the RPS staff members who led the session. As of this writing, they have not responded.]
What the documents show
One document is titled “Common Beliefs” and bears the Teaching Tolerance logo with the line “A Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.” It is structured around “common beliefs” educators may hold that are viewed in need of correction and are paired with background explanations and discussion questions intended for use in staff training. A “Common Beliefs Survey” was also included in the packet.
The former staffer, who asked not to be named, says she received the documents during a professional development session at RCTC Heintz Center, and noted the date in her planner as Jan. 19, 2024. The session was led by two RPS staff members — who have been contacted by American Experiment — according to the former staffer.
Why it matters
If RPS did distribute Teaching Tolerance materials in a 2024 training, that raises the same oversight questions other Minnesota districts now face, which have been made amid renewed scrutiny of the SPLC nationally. The organization was recently federally indicted on wire fraud and money laundering related charges tied to funds connected to extremist groups. For nearly 10 years, between 2014 and 2023, the U.S. Justice Department alleges that SPLC “secretly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to individuals who were associated with various violent extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of America.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche summed it up in plain terms: “The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence.”
As I wrote here, Learning for Justice is already documented in Minnesota’s education system. This includes citations in materials promoted by the Minnesota Department of Education and Education Minnesota and embedded in districts’ equity or curriculum frameworks (e.g., Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, Lakeville, and South St. Paul).
At minimum, the district should clarify what materials were used in the January 2024 session, who approved them, and whether similar materials have been used in other trainings since. Parents have a right to know what is shaping staff development.