Education bill would require parental notification to 'TRACE' foreign funding of curriculum as China looks on
EXCLUSIVE: Republican lawmakers will be putting forward a bill requiring parental notification of any foreign funding sources connected to their child's public K-12 curriculum.
Rep. Aaron Bean, R–Fla., and House Education Committee member Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., will put forward the TRACE Act – or Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education.
It will amend the Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965 to make such parental notification a condition of federal funding allocation.
The issue has come to the fore in recent years, as education officials in states like Oklahoma warn against Chinese Communist Party-linked Confucius Classrooms and other foreign-funded or globally-based initiatives.
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The TRACE Act would require schools to provide on an approximately monthly basis any education materials provided by, using funds received by or purchased from foreign governments.
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The bill will also require that parents have the right to know about any contract or financial transaction between a foreign country and their child's school.
Bean, who also leads the Congressional DOGE Caucus, forwarded a similar bill in 2024, but Republicans now hold full control of Congress – which they did not at the time.
"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 Digital.
"Yet, this is what happens when our institutions of learning accept the Trojan horse of foreign funding."
Chinese Influence In Schools Leads To Grown Concerns, Oklahoma Official Says
Mackenzie, who just took office after a narrow but crucial GOP upset over Democrat Susan Wild in his Lehigh Valley district, called the TRACE Act "essential for safeguarding America's children and schools against foreign influence."
"Parents have a fundamental right to know what's happening in their children's classrooms, especially in cases where foreign governments are funding curricular materials or compensating school personnel," Mackenzie said.
"By empowering parents to demand transparency and accountability, the TRACE Act will ensure that our children's education remains free from external influence," the Pennsylvanian added.
Bean said parents deserve to know who is funding the materials used to educate their children and further warned against potential subtle indoctrination of America's youth.
Oklahoma's top elected education official had called for congressional action in 2023 to blunt foreign influence in schools – and further pledged to be on the front lines of pushing back against untoward interference in children's education.
State Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters told Fox News Digital in June that foreign influence over education is a national security risk – especially when it comes without the knowledge of children or their parents.
He challenged his state's largest school district, alleging funding for Confucius Classrooms had been "hidden" from parents and that it was "actually the Chinese Communist Party that was funding a nonprofit that was working directly in the school."
In a statement to Fox News at the time, Tulsa Public Schools said the district "has no Confucius classroom programs in its schools." In a report from The Oklahoman, the district reportedly funded a professional development class for a Chinese language teacher at one high school, which was facilitated through a Confucius Classroom Coordination Office at an outside, Texas-based organization.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., then chair of the House Education Committee, said it is clear "significant investments" from foreign nations are "flowing into America's K-12 schools [and] possibly impacting decisions regarding personnel or curriculum."
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Wis., took over for Foxx as chair of that committee in January.Original article source: Education bill would require parental notification to 'TRACE' foreign funding of curriculum as China looks on
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