Following the release of a new report describing how millions of dollars of funding from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have flowed into America’s K-12 classrooms, 18 Republican senators urged the U.S. Department of Education to conduct a nationwide audit to determine exactly how much funding has been received from hostile foreign governments in the nation’s elementary and secondary schools.
“We also urge you to analyze the extent to which other hostile foreign governments, in addition to the PRC, may have already gained access to our K-12 schools,” wrote the lawmakers in an Aug. 29 letter sent to U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
Among the lawmakers who signed the letter are U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and John Thune (R-SD).
Specifically, the senators raised concerns in their letter about a July 26 report issued by Parents Defending Education detailing how, for nearly two decades, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has threatened U.S. national security by using tools such as grants, sister school partnerships, Confucius Classrooms, and other state-sponsored programming to gain access to America’s education system in an effort to advance its own agenda.
The report points out that programs vetted and managed by the government of the PRC exist in 34 states nationwide, impacting more than 170,000 students across 143 school districts, according to their letter.
“The CCP is the greatest threat to America’s security today. The CCP’s involvement in the K-12 education system further demonstrates how far the Chinese government is willing to go to expand its influence and promote its authoritarian agenda,” the senators wrote. “We cannot sit idle and allow this expansion of CCP propaganda. Parents deserve transparency, and policymakers must know the extent of the problem so we can work on solutions to protect both our students and our national security.”
The lawmakers requested that Cardona respond to them by Sept. 8 regarding his commitment to perform the audit, as well as its scope of review.
“We look forward to working with you to prevent our students and their families from falling victim to authoritarian propaganda and urge you to take bold steps to curb the CCP’s malign influence in our education system,” they wrote.