Chinese Community Party–sponsored groups are linked to over 143 American K–12 districts, parents’-rights organization Parents Defending Education (PDE), revealed in a report released today:
In March, Parents Defending Education uncovered that a nonprofit linked to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology had received more than $1 million in financial aid from Chinese government-affiliated entities over the course of a decade.1
Further research reveals the People’s Republic of China fostered relationships with American K-12 schools through grants, sister school partnerships, and other programming since at least 2009. Parents Defending Education tracked affiliations in 143 schools across 34 states and Washington, D.C.—and at least seven are still active. Financial exchanges between K-12 schools and the Chinese government range from a few thousand dollars to, in Thomas Jefferson High School’s case, more than a million dollars. Disturbingly, the Chinese government’s ties appear to target school districts near 20 American military bases.
The group (for which I once interned) tracked the CCP’s influence through Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, which according to the National Association of Scholars are “are set up as partnerships between a host institution, a Chinese partner (usually a Chinese university), and a Chinese government agency.” PDE president Nicole Neily told Fox News that families deserve to know about alarming evidence which proves that the CCP influences America’s education system:
The Trump administration took steps to rein in Confucius Institutes at colleges and universities. It is frightening, however, that no such transparency mandate exists at the K-12 level. Accordingly, it is imperative that elected officials at both the federal and state levels take immediate action to gauge the extent of these programs in order to ensure that American schoolchildren receive a high-quality education free from undue foreign interference.
Chinese officials obtained incredible access to K–12 curriculum (in 34 states, plus the District of Columbia), a fact that was not well hidden. A former CCP chairman said in 2009 that Confucius Institutes were an “important part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up,” PDE advisor Michele Exner noted. Few, except the parent groups that arose after Covid, extensively looked into these programs, even though districts have spent $17 million on Confucius Institutes since 2009. The programs also operate in schools near 20 military bases, which one would apparently be mistaken to believe warrants some — any — scrutiny.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed into law in May “three bills to counteract the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the state of Florida,” which he hopes will, “stop CCP influence in our education system from grade school to grad school.” Representative Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.) chairman of the House Select Committee on China, told the Daily Signal in January that “Confucius Institutes and Classrooms allow the Chinese Communist Party to wield influence throughout the American education system, projecting the CCP’s preferred message in the United States.” But many of the CCP initiatives are still active, PDE reported, and there’s no telling how long it will take the government to get CCP-trained and funded teachers out of schools.