COVID cash meant to get kids back on track took surprising detour in blue-state school district, tell me about this news in (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/covid-cash-meant-get-kids-back-track-took-surprising-detour-blue-state-school-district)
20-09-2026
The article from Fox News reports that Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) in New Mexico used federal COVID-19 pandemic relief fundingoriginally allocated by Congress under the American Rescue Plan to counter learning lossto finance “anti-racism” training for teachers and administrators.
Key points covered in the report include:
Funding and Scope: According to public records obtained by conservative legal group America First Legal (AFL), APS initially approved $336,500 in relief funds in 2021 for programming associated with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB). AFL’s findings indicate the district ultimately spent nearly $700,000 on these programs through the Anti-Racism Training Institute of the Southwest (ARTI).
Program Participation: By July 2022, more than 720 school district staff membersincluding school principals, assistant principals, teachers, and administrative officialshad participated in workshops like “Community Conversations” and “Undoing Racism.”
Curriculum Content: Training materials described race as a construct created to maintain power and privilege and instructed white participants to examine how they acquired white identity. District memos showed officials considered creating a student-focused anti-racism program in late 2022 across up to 10 middle and high schools, though APS confirmed that student component was never implemented.
Criticisms and Defense: America First Legal criticized the district for redirecting taxpayer money meant for student pandemic recovery into ideological and Critical Race Theory (CRT) workshops. In response, an APS spokesperson stated that the district could not immediately confirm the specific accounting figures from COVID relief funds, but defended the training initiative, stating it was aimed at improving overall student attendance and academic achievement.