A new report has pulled back the curtain on a taxpayer-funded operation quietly funneling more than $123 million to radical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultants in public schools across America. According to research from Defending Education, at least 41 consulting groups raked in contracts from 303 school districts across 40 states since 2021 — and that’s just what’s been uncovered so far.

Even more stunning, this isn’t just happening in deep blue states. The report found public funds flowing into DEI programs from places like Florida and Alabama — states where voters have clearly pushed back against progressive agendas in education.

“This is a total racket that makes schools worse,” said Erika Sanzi, a senior fellow with Defending Education. “It’s big business — and the victims are parents and students.”

The biggest DEI winner? A company called Amplify, which collected a staggering $70 million in taxpayer dollars. While Amplify insists it simply helps kids learn reading and math, a now-deleted statement on its website previously declared its goal was to “help teachers support their students in constructing, questioning, and strengthening knowledge of where they come from and who they are becoming.”

Translation: a progressive reprogramming of how children see themselves and the world.

Another group, Adjusted Equity Solutions — tied to the Culturally Responsive School Leadership Institute — openly brags about “challenging whiteness” and conducting “equity audits” to root out anything they deem non-inclusive. They took in over $1 million from public schools during the study period.

“These groups are pushing ideology, not academics,” Sanzi warned. “And in too many cases, schools are handing over young minds to people who think it’s their job to transform children’s worldviews.”

Even more concerning, Sanzi noted that these programs are rarely age-appropriate, often pushing sensitive gender and racial content onto young children under the banner of “empathy” or “belonging.” She gave the example of a girl uncomfortable sharing a bathroom with a biologically male staffer who identifies as female. Instead of protecting her, DEI lessons might frame her discomfort as “wrong” and train her to feel guilty.

“This isn’t about teaching math and reading. This is about shaping values — with no transparency and no parental input,” Sanzi said.

Faced with increasing scrutiny, many of these groups have scrubbed their websites and started using new language to hide their continued focus on DEI. Words like “belonging,” “well-being,” or “inclusive excellence” are the new camouflage — but the ideology underneath remains the same.

“They’re rebranding,” Sanzi said. “They might say they’re shutting down their DEI office, but the agenda doesn’t go away. It just gets renamed and buried in new departments.”

The Trump administration’s Department of Education has already warned states that continuing these practices could cost them federal funding. Yet the gravy train continues in many districts — some of which may not even know what they’re signing up for when contracting with these groups.

“These aren’t neutral experts,” Sanzi emphasized. “These are activists. They’re ideologues. And they’re using public dollars to preach to kids about how to think, not how to think for themselves.”

As concerns over classroom indoctrination continue to mount, this new report raises critical questions about how taxpayer money is being spent — and who’s really influencing America’s children.

For now, the warning is clear: the DEI industrial complex is alive, well, and quietly burrowed into the heart of the nation’s education system.