U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is hoping to “safeguard classrooms” from the foreign influence of China and others with a new bill that will be introduced Monday.
Information on any curricula sourced or funded by foreign entities must be supplied to parents who request the information in the bill being introduced by the Texas Republican. Cruz’s Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act is a companion bill to legislation introduced in June by House Education Committee member Aaron Bean (R-FL).
“The Chinese Communist Party exerts vast resources to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think,” Cruz said, according to Fox News.
“The CCP continues to target American educational institutions, as do other foreign adversaries. The TRACE Act will give parents the transparency they need and deserve, and help safeguard classrooms from foreign influence,” he added.
Parents who request the information about the funding sources will have it provided at no cost, according to the bill and parents’ rights under the policy would have to be displayed or communicated clearly by school districts.
“When parents send their children to school, they should have the peace of mind in knowing where the education funds are coming from,” said Michele Exner, the director of federal affairs at Parents Defending Education, an organization that has endorsed Cruz’s measure.
“Unfortunately, there is alarming evidence found by our partner organization, Parents Defending Education, showing foreign nations, particularly adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party, are trying to use America’s classrooms to advance their strategic objectives at our country’s expense. We cannot allow this to happen,” Exner added.
Congressman Bean, the chairman of the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee, introduced the landmark bill in June. Its aim was to “solidify the rights of parents to know how foreign funding is impacting their child’s classroom and adds a layer of deterrence to keep foreign nations from reaching America’s youth,” according to a press release.
“American schools are for education, not espionage. We cannot allow our students—the future of our great nation—to be corrupted by foreign adversaries who are systematically and aggressively attempting to influence our nation’s K-12 schools,” Bean told Fox News at the time.
“Yet this is what happens when our institutions of learning accept the Trojan Horse of foreign funding. My bill aims to solidify the rights of parents to know how foreign influence may be impacting their child’s classroom and deter the ability of foreign nations to reach America’s youth,” he added.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who chairs the House Education Committee, believed the measure would keep parents better informed.
“We know that significant investments from foreign nations are flowing into America’s K-12 schools, possibly impacting decisions regarding personnel or curriculum,” Foxx said. “As it stands, school administrators are not required to share where their funding comes from. That’s unacceptable.”
Last year, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters cited the national security risk posed by Chinese influence on education.
“What we have found is the [Chinese Communist Party] has funded the Confucius Classrooms inside American schools, which, by their own words, is a propaganda campaign of a soft power attempt to undermine the American Constitution and American values. We’re taking steps to end this in Oklahoma,” he told Fox News previously.
“That’s not why China is… investing programs in the country… They told us why they’re investing – absolutely [in] a propaganda campaign to undermine American values,” he said as he called on Congress to act.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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