Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) community members are raising concerns over the lessons offered to elementary school students.
Parents are objecting to the inclusion of a lesson assigned earlier this month from BrainPOP on Tuskegee Airmen, comparing the plight of the first African American military aviators to LGBTQ+ service members. The lesson also included a call to action after displaying a visual promoting LGBTQ+ activism.
“Thanks to pioneers like the Red Tails, the armed services integrated shortly after the war. It was an early victory for the budding Civil Rights movement. In the decades to come, the federal government would expand its role in protecting the rights of African Americans, and the rights of other marginalized groups,” stated the video. “Injustice never ends overnight. It takes brave people to challenge it, and show everyone else that there’s another way.”
Near the end of the video, BrainPOP included a cartoon drawing of a Wall Street Journal newspaper front page reading “LGBT Welcome in the Military” with an illustration of protesters standing behind a rainbow banner in front of the White House.
🚨After @ScottsdaleUSD assigned elementary students a BrainPOP lesson this week, one father found his child viewing this s3xual orientation lesson. No parental opt-in was collected. S3x ed is not allowed prior to 5th grade, per AZ law.
👉Email the governing board and tell them… https://t.co/8W5jJYATv4 pic.twitter.com/vWBskZJW8b
— Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity (@ScottsdaleUnite) August 19, 2025
Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity (SUEI) says problematic lessons like these became available because SUSD has authorized hundreds of supplemental curriculum resources, including BrainPOP, without committee review or community input. SUEI noted that many of these supplementary materials are delivered through online platforms, which means publishers can update the content at any given time.
BrainPOP is an educational website housing over 1,000 short animated movies across a variety of subjects for K-8 students.
BrainPOP has continually been a point of contention between parents and educators, especially around the culturally defining year of 2020, although BrainPOP first introduced dedicated LGBTQ+ content in 2017 under pressure from student activists and in the aftermath of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting. BrainPOP introduced its first LGBTQ+ video on Harvey Milk Day that year.
A major source of conflict emerged in recent years over BrainPOP’s lessons on complex social problems, such as the “Black Lives Matter Protests” lesson which teaches children that racism continues to be a problem in America. The lesson also portrayed three high-profile deaths of black men as a result of racism: George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown. Omitted from the lesson were key facts leading up to their deaths, including the three men being the primary aggressors in their respective situations.
State law doesn’t allow sex education prior to the fifth grade. The Supreme Court ruled this year in Mahmoud v. Taylor that parents have the right to be notified on educational materials addressing gender identity and sexual orientation.
SUSD parents have expressed concerns about BrainPOP content in the past. In 2023, elementary school parents reported BrainPOP offering LGBTQ content on Pride Month, pronouns, sex determination, Harvey Milk, and Pride marches.
This is exactly why the Empower Hotline was established, so parents can have a say in their children's education. Report inappropriate lessons here. https://t.co/1bN7og2RZa https://t.co/EYv1pb83v7
— Arizona Department of Education (@azedschools) May 9, 2023
The company’s longtime CEO and founder, Avraham Kadar, was replaced in 2019 by Scott Kirkpatrick shortly before being acquired by Kirkbi A/S. Kirkpatrick, a Coast Guard veteran, is currently the President and COO of General Assembly, and was formerly a military social aide to former President Bill Clinton, executive vice president of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, and president of the Princeton Review.
Kirkbi is a Danish company owned by the Kristiansen family, who founded and maintains majority ownership in Lego; Kirkbi has owned BrainPOP since 2022.
Satan is the true leader of the Democrat Party now.
Can you people stop with all the religiotard excuses? It turns off 80% of the electorate; if you want to stick to those tired old bogeyman crutches, move to the Middle East, they routinely have holidays to sweep-out-Satan, etc. Read one of our best thinkers, VDH, on how the Dimsheviks lost their minds, to wit: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/what-made-democratic-party-go-crazy
Only sick minded people can create such video comparison. It is an insult to the black aviators, too.
My only comment about this online crap is when are the parents of the students in the Scottsdale School District going to have enough of the Superintendent and School Board throwing crap like this in the faces of the kids and parents. When is enough, enough you idiots in Scottsdale. Guess you haven’t reached that point yet, huh??? Until you do, don’t go complain to the state and expect them to do your dirty work. Do it yourself or shut the h**l up.
This is the fault of the Scottsdale residents. They elected these people on the board into office. Unless they’re voted out of office or recalled nothing will change and that is in the voter. I have no sympathy for you
To think that the local school board would approve this filth. Liberals hatred is so strong they are willing to target little kids to try and get allies for the agenda.