Missouri AG Eric Schmitt: Parents need to be empowered here
AG Eric Schmitt tells Laura Ingraham that parents have every right to know what’s being taught in the classroom.
EXCLUSIVE – The attorney general of Missouri, Eric Schmitt, sent a civil investigative demand (CID) — which operates as a subpoena — to a digital learning platform called Panorama Education to request any potential communication between the company and Biden's Department of Justice, including AG Merrick Garland, the office told Fox News Digital.
Panorama Education was co-founded by AG Garland's son-in-law, Alexander "Xan" Tanner. The digital learning platform, which received early funding from the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative, uses "survey instruments" to improve the education of its 13 million students.
Schmitt launched an investigation into how student surveys created by third-party companies such as Panorama Education were used in several districts in Missouri. Some surveys probed students on their sexuality, political views, parents' income, and "racially-biased" questions, the attorney general's office previously said.
In addition to requesting any communication between AG Garland or the DOJ, the CID also asked for how Panorama's data from the surveys are collected and stored and who has access to that data, including any parties who are not clients of Panorama, the attorney general's office told Fox News Digital.
Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies in the Senate, April 26, 2022. (Greg Nash/Pool Photo via AP)
"My office last week served Panorama Education with a civil investigative demand to collect documents to determine exactly what information and data Panorama has collected and how data from these surveys is being stored or distributed," AG Schmitt said.
In June, Schmitt subpoenaed seven districts in Missouri for information related to the surveys.
"Subjecting students to personal, invasive surveys created by third-party consultants, potentially without parents’ consent, is ridiculous and does nothing to further our children’s education," Schmitt said at the time. "After learning of these surveys, my office has opened an investigation and sent subpoenas to seven school districts across the state to get to the bottom of these surveys and put a stop to them."
Fox News Digital spoke with Panorama Education, which said school districts make decisions on survey content, including how they are administered, not Panorama.
"Panorama Education is an education technology company that provides teachers, school districts, and families with tools helping students improve academic progress, social-emotional development and well-being. We help connect what students and parents want to see in the classroom with the school districts who make it happen. Schools or districts decide what works best for their students, including when and how they administer surveys to students," the statement read.
Panorama Education received early funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. (iStock)
Kimberly Hermann from the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group that urged Missouri's attorney general office to investigate the collection of personal data from students, said the student surveys are "ripe for abuse" and need to stop.
Panorama Education has been under scrutiny for promoting some left-wing ideas. In October 2021, it was found that Panorama promoted a book containing an essay by a former Weather Underground leader. The Underground was a militant group responsible for bombing government buildings and extreme activism.
It was also reported that Panorama issued a "resource" claiming that attendees of former President Trump rallies and "murderous police officers" were examples of "White supremacy."
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and his son-in-law, Xan Tanner, who co-founded Panorama Education. (Oliver Contreras - Pool/Getty Images)
Following accusations of Panorama Education promoting critical race theory, AG Garland was brought under scrutiny by American First Legal, a conservative legal group.
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"AG Garland ordered the DOJ to use its vast national security powers to target parents who object to critical race theory being forced onto innocent children. It is therefore exceptionally urgent that the department disclose all records pertaining to the Garland family’s financial interest in critical race theory and any and all ethical conflicts that arise from that financial interest," said the watchdog group's founder, Stephen Miller.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Justice Department, but did not immediately receive a response.