EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) called for Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to order a Department of Education investigation into the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on the nation’s K-12 schools following a new report.
In a letter to Cardona on Wednesday, Banks, citing a report from the parent activist group Parents Defending Education, said the flow of money from the Chinese government into the nation’s education infrastructure has “no place in our country.”
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“I write to convey my concerns about a report published this week by Parents Defending Education, which describes millions of dollars flowing from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) into America’s K-12 schools,” Banks wrote in his letter. “Evidence included in the report shows contracts coordinated between PRC governmental [organizations] and U.S. schools, involving Confucius Institutes (CIs) and other PRC-controlled entities designed to enhance Beijing’s soft power.”
The report from Parents Defending Education, titled “Little Red Classrooms,” details how 143 school districts have or had partnerships with Confucius Institutes to provide “Confucius Classrooms” programming at the K-12 level.
Confucius Institutes, Chinese-funded institutes at U.S. universities, have drawn increased scrutiny in recent years amid heightened concerns that such institutes are being used to push propaganda efforts in the United States on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. Under the Trump administration, the Department of Education launched a series of investigations into foreign influence in higher education that prompted a number of universities to close their institutes.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we were able to expose nefarious CCP influence over our universities,” Banks told the Washington Examiner. “We must act with the same urgency to ensure our K-12 schools are not being funded by America’s greatest foreign adversary.”
Seven school districts, including Tulsa Public Schools and Seattle Public Schools, have active Confucius Classrooms partnerships. The partnerships have funneled nearly $18 million in Chinese government funds to K-12 schools, according to the report.
“For decades, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has worked to exert influence over America’s education system, an effort that Xi Jinping has dramatically amplified,” Banks wrote. “By instituting CIs, Confucius Classrooms, and similar partnerships — which American school districts often mistake as benign affiliations and grants — Beijing has been able to establish ties with U.S. schools all across the country.”
The Indiana congressman, who is running for a Senate seat in the Hoosier State, urged the Department of Education to conduct an audit to determine how much funding from “hostile adversaries” has gone to K-12 schools, analyze the extent to which foreign governments have gained access to the nation’s schools, and “institute departmental solutions to halt foreign influence, oversight, or intellectual property theft in our K-12 schools.”
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“As I hope you agree, the PRC is the United States’s biggest geopolitical adversary,” the congressman wrote. “The CCP’s goal is to undermine U.S. strength at home and our leadership abroad. We should take every measure to strengthen our defenses against this adversary, which must include blocking their ability to propagandize in America’s K-12 schools. I call on you to immediately address this issue with the urgency it deserves and look forward to your response.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Education for comment.
