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A low-performing California school district is shelling out nearly $300,000 to partner with a group to teach a rap-based curriculum to students, raising “worrying” concerns, the Justice Department said.
The Merced City School District, one of the lowest performing school districts, has signed a $270,000 contract with School Yard Rap, the New York Post reports.
The agreement includes a summer “Rap Camp” and an “African American Affinity Group,” which has 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 with School Yard Rap, to teach kids using hip-hop in its curriculum. (Merced City School District)
Courses include history lessons, songwriting, DJ-ing and concerts.
“The School Yard Rap curriculum transforms history lessons into relatable characters presented through song and storytelling – leading to emotional connection,” says the School Yard Rap website.
Founded in 2016, School Yard Rap, which operates in 28 states, presents “a world where learning meets rhythm, exploring different cultures and subjects through interactive music modules.”
Merced awarded $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 program based on race is “worrisome.”
“It is illegal for the government to provide benefits based solely on race. We have not had a chance to investigate these allegations, but if they are true, they are troubling,” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, told Fox News Digital.
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The Merced City School District contracted with School Yard Rap for a rap-based curriculum. (stock)
Brandon Brown, a former teacher at the school and founder of School Yard Rap, told the newspaper that the program was not exclusive.
“This camp in particular – the African American Affinity Camp – is open to every single student in grades 3 through 8, focusing on African American history and the diaspora,” he said. “I think this is politically driven and the reason this was released.”
However, one of School Yard Rap’s tracks, titled “Moor than a Month” includes lyrics that mimic those of the hip-hop group Migos, which is about white patriarchy.
“I’m Black every day I’m here, without a cap, for more than a month, like all the Black kids in the class,” said the song.
“So this is their album, but this song is for you – every teacher and parent, needs this truth,” another line said. “History books have a white male skew, but believe me I don’t blame you. He’s the one who wrote the paper – it’s cyclical in nature.”
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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 aggregates school rating and review data. Only 13% of students met the standards for math proficiency, the report said.
The Justice Department recently launched investigations into some school districts for alleged racially biased programs and hiring practices. In April 2025, it began looking at the Chicago Public Schools Success Program for race-based benefits.
