How the Oil and Gas Industry Smuggles Corporate Propaganda Into Schools

An oil pumpjack works at dawn in the Permian Basin oil field on January 20, 2016 in the oil town of Andrews, Texas., which is intended for the 3-5 grade level, is titled “A Day Without.” It instructs teachers to explain to their classes how petroleum and natural gas provide most of the energy kids use in their day-to-day lives, from “charging my computer” to “making popcorn in the microwave.”

According to its website, Discovery Education materials are currently used by half of the classrooms in the U.S. Six states have provided Discovery Education curricula to some or all of their public school districts, paying millions of dollars for the privilege — or, in at least one case, allowing a corporate sponsor to foot the bill.

“Discovery Education employs a rigorous process to review and select content that ensures only high quality, standards-aligned resources appear in our products. In addition, our flagship service includes a tool that allows school systems to exercise the highest level of control over their content, ensuring that the resources used in instruction meet local standards and approaches to learning. Thanks to the support of the STEM Careers Coalition, approximately 4,000 U.S.

The employee clicks to a section titled “STEM Careers,” which brings up a list of videos, activities, handouts, and other information for students and teachers. A header and logo on the page announce that the platform is “powered by the STEM Careers Coalition.” The first module listed on the K-5 page is a video called “Manufacturing Metals,” which looks at metal alloys manufactured in industrial company Arconic’s “state-of-the-art” manufacturing center in Alcoa, Tennessee.

A teacher wanting to avoid corporate branding may not have a choice. Controlling how much advertising is served to kids in classrooms is largely left up to school districts. While some districts, like San Francisco, havelimiting commercialism in classrooms — including prohibitions on teachers using curriculum sponsored by corporations — most states and districts lack comprehensive guardrails.

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