California school district spends $270K on ‘Rap Camp’ as math scores plummet
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An underperforming school district in California doled out nearly $300,000 to partner with a group to teach students a rap-based curriculum, raising “troubling” concerns, the Justice Department said.
Merced City School District, one of the state’s lower-performing school districts, signed a $270,000 contract with School Yard Rap. New York Post reported.
The agreement includes a summer “Rap Camp” and “African American Affinity Group,” which raised questions about whether the partnership complies with federal law.
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The Merced City School District paid nearly $300,000 to contract School Yard Rap to teach children to use hip hop in its curriculum. (Merced City School District)
Classes include history lessons, songwriting, DJing and performances.
“The School Yard Rap curriculum transforms history lessons into relatable characters presented through songs and storytelling, providing emotional connection,” says the School Yard Rap website.
Founded in 2016 and operating in 28 states, School Yard Rap offers “a world where learning meets rhythm, exploring different cultures and subjects through interactive music-filled modules.”
Merced handed out $610,000 worth of contracts to School Yard Rap, the Post reported. Fox News Digital reached out to the school district and School Yard Rap.
The Justice Department told Fox News Digital that any race-based programming is “problematic.”
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told Fox News Digital: “It is unlawful for the government to offer relief based solely on race. We have not had the opportunity to investigate these allegations, but if true they are troubling.”
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Merced City School District signed a contract with School Yard Rap for a rap-based curriculum. (istock)
Brandon Brown, a former school teacher and founder of School Yard Rap, told the paper that the program is not exclusionary.
“This camp, specifically the African American Affinity Camp, is open to any student in grades 3 through 8, focusing on African American history and the diaspora,” he said. “I think this was politically driven and that’s the reason it was publicized.”
However, one of School Yard Rap’s shows, titled “Moor than a Month,” features lyrics that parody lyrics by hip-hop group Migos that speak of white patriarchy.
“Every day I’m here, like every Black kid in the classroom, I’ll be Black without boundaries for over a month,” the song said.
“So this album is for them, but this track is for you – every teacher and parent you need this truth,” he says in one line. “There’s a white male skew in the history books, but believe me, I don’t blame you. He was the one who put it on paper; it’s inherently a cycle.”
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The school district serves 11,400 students but has a student-teacher ratio of 25 to 1, according to Niche, a website that compiles data to rank and review schools. The report states that only 13% of students meet math proficiency criteria.
The Justice Department recently opened investigations into other school districts for alleged race-based programs and hiring practices. In April 2025, he began examining Chicago Public Schools’ Black Student Achievement Plan for alleged race-based benefits.
