Shadow Education Groups Quietly Rewrite Red-State School Standards

Education consulting organizations, including the American Institutes for Research (AIR), hold contracts with state agencies across the country and play a significant role in the development of academic standards, curriculum frameworks, surveys, and related education policy materials used in public schools.

For years, citizens assumed red-state schools were safe.

They aren’t.

A radical nonprofit, the American Institutes for Research, has quietly embedded itself inside state education departments, writing the very standards that shape what millions of kids learn. pic.twitter.com/fbraXAwqx4

— The American Mind (@theammind) November 18, 2025

AIR currently has contracts with at least 25 states, most of them tied to state standards development.

Standards determine what students are required to learn and when, and state law requires that curriculum, lesson plans, and instructional materials align with those standards.

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According to available contract information and state education department records, AIR’s work extends into areas such as health care policy, counseling, and school climate surveys in addition to academic standards.

Several red states have maintained contracts with AIR for years, including Alaska and Iowa.

In Alaska, AIR has been involved in multiple projects.

These include the School Climate and Connectedness Survey, a tool focused in part on social-emotional learning, and support for adult education content standards.

On the Alaska Department of Education’s social studies website, AIR is cited in materials such as the HQIM Rubric and a presentation delivered to the state board that was co-presented with an AIR employee.

In that presentation, AIR staff and state officials discussed equity components and shifts toward student “action civics.” Those elements later appeared in Alaska’s revised social studies standards.

The state’s new standards were developed by a panel selected according to demographic criteria outlined by the department.

Alaska is also listed as a partner in AIR’s Indigenous Student Identification Project.

That project is led by Nara Nayar, who lists past work involving comprehensive sexuality education for elementary and middle school students.

In Iowa, AIR’s involvement has centered on social studies revisions and statewide assessments.

The state worked with Stefanie Wager, a former AIR employee who has listed racial justice, equity, and inclusion as primary priorities in her public professional materials.

Wager previously served as president of the National Association for the Social Studies and has also worked with the personal office of Bill Gates.

She originally entered Iowa’s Department of Education as an AIR employee embedded within the agency before joining the department directly.

AIR’s influence extends into additional states.

Nebraska contracted AIR to produce a social studies report that the organization features on its own website.

In South Dakota, AIR received a contract worth nearly $250,000 to facilitate work-group meetings for revising social studies standards.

After the standards were completed, public criticism prompted then-Gov. Kristi Noem to direct the state’s Education Department to restart the revision process.

South Dakota subsequently adopted new standards through a different process.

Contract amounts vary widely.

Alaska’s total spending across its various AIR projects is not fully published; one project shows a cost of $350,000.

Iowa awarded AIR a $31 million contract for statewide testing assessments.

Because many state contracts are not automatically disclosed, the level of transparency differs by state.

In Alaska, contract documents require payment before release.

The contracts reflect a broader trend in which state functions, including standards development and instructional reviews, are handled by external consulting groups.

State education agencies cite the need for specialized expertise and capacity, while critics point to the influence of outside organizations on policy within states that otherwise maintain different political priorities.

State legislatures and governors continue to evaluate the role of outside consulting groups as part of broader reviews of academic standards, curriculum implementation, and accountability systems across public schools.