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Communist China’s funding of America’s public schools sparks GOP probe

July 31, 2023 | | Print Article

Communist China has inserted itself into America’s public school system, donating $17 million to influence students and now Republicans are demanding answers.

Parents Defending Education has issued a report called “Little Red Classrooms” that shows how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is coordinating with US schools to implement Confucius Classrooms which have, over time, included 143 school districts in 34 states and Washington, D.C.

Seven of those contracts with the CCP are still active in states such as Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

CCP-connected financial institutions have funneled the donations into K-12 schools through Confucius Institutes and other cultural and language programs, according to the report.

The report also claims that the CCP has “ties to school districts near 20 US military bases” as well as three of the nation’s top science and technology high schools.

“While the United States is not officially part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese state media has touted the work done by Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms to further the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence,” the report asserts.

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This infiltration has been going on since 2009 using grants and sister school partnerships.

Parents Defending Education President Nicki Neily pointed out in a statement that the “alarming evidence” uncovered by the group’s probe should “concern parents, educators, and policymakers alike.”

Thirty-four governors, key lawmakers, and committee chairs were provided a copy of the report on Wednesday, according to Fox News.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) is demanding that the Department of Education act with “urgency” to put a halt to these “disturbing” partnerships. In a letter sent to Sec. Miguel Cardona on Wednesday, Banks made it crystal clear that he expects action to be taken, according to a copy obtained by the Daily Mail.

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“The Chinese Communist Party is not a trustworthy partner. Accepting funding and influence from our greatest adversary is a threat to America’s children and national security,” Banks told the Daily Mail in an interview.

The congressman stressed in his letter that the US has to “take every measure” to strengthen its defenses against China including “blocking their ability to propagandize in America’s K-12 schools.”

Banks noted that under former President Trump, the State Department designated Confucius Institutes a “foreign mission,” which facilitated the shutting down of some of these “dangerous programs.”

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) told the Daily Mail in an interview that the report is “alarming” because “we truly don’t understand the full extent of Communist China’s meddling in our education system.”

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“Not only is the CCP trying to promote their propaganda through education programs but are using Chinese shell companies to outright buy American private schools around the country,” he charged.

Waltz wants states and the federal government to start “cracking down on the targeting of our children.”

He also warned about Chinese-owned schools in the US with Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) programs. Waltz sees them as a national security threat.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told the Daily Mail in an interview that the report should “alarm” every American parent considering the CCP is targeting schools close to military bases. He introduced a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit federal agencies from funding research in China or “any entity” owned by China.

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“From buying our farmland to setting up CCP police stations here on US soil, stealing our intellectual property, spying on our military bases, and now buying their way into our children’s K-12 schools, it is past time for this administration to wake up and realize what we are up against,” he told the Daily Mail.

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) states that the Pentagon is prohibited from providing money to “institution[s] of higher education that hosts a Confucius Institute” after October 1, 2023.

Over 108 Confucius Institutes at US universities have shut down or are closing. As of March, the National Association of Scholars says there are a total of 13 Confucius Institutes still operating in the US.

House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher was very instrumental in shutting down New York’s Confucius Institute. Unbelievably, Alfred University in New York was awarded a five-year $13.5 million taxpayer-funded research grant in 2022 by the Pentagon to conduct hypersonic weapons research. They were literally funding our biggest enemy’s warfare research.

Four other universities host a Confucius Institute and have been given a DOD grant, including the University of Toledo, the University of Utah, St. Cloud State University, and Wesleyan College.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told the Daily Mail in an interview that it’s “ridiculous” there aren’t measures “protecting our children from CCP influence.”

“Learning languages and cultures critical to national security, like Chinese, is essential, but it shouldn’t come with Communist propaganda and influence,” he contended.

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