Bluegrass Times

A national grassroots education advocacy group last week called on state and federal government officials to launch investigations into China's part in the "Confucius Classroom Network" in classrooms across the United States.

In its report, "Little Red Classrooms: China's Infiltration of American K-12 Schools," Parents Defending Education issued state-by-state warning about how China is turning U.S. schools in "Confucius schools" and called for investigations into just how far it goes.

"State and federal officials should immediately begin investigations to determine the scope of China’s involvement, influence, and access to our K-12 student information and curriculum," the report said in its recommendations. "This report should be made public once complete, so parents can make informed decisions on their children’s involvement in these controversial programs. Families should also have full access to view how these cultural and language immersion programs are financed."

Parents Defending Education is a 501(c)(3) charitable national grassroots organization "working to reclaim our schools from activists imposing harmful agendas," the About page on its website says.

"Confucius Classrooms" are designed to teach Chinese language and culture and have partnerships with the Chinese government, according to the report.  

The report found Confucius Classrooms are funded and programmed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with 13 Confucius Institutes functioning in the U.S. and 108 that have closed or are in the process of shutting down. Minnesota, Kentucky, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma and Washington currently have schools that are still associated with the CCP, according to the report.

The group's affiliated organization, Parents Defending Education Action, forwarded the report's findings in letters to House Education & Workforce Committee Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R- Alabama), and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A similar letter was also sent to 33 governors, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. 

The report uncovered $17,967,565 in funding across 143 U.S. school districts, including 20 in close proximity to U.S. military bases, all of which have connections to the CCP, according to the report, which referred to a Fox News story.

"At the Congressional level, committees of jurisdiction should move to hold hearings to determine the scope of this security vulnerability, and specifically to evaluate how China’s infiltration of our K-12 classrooms has compromised student information, curriculum data, and America’s intellectual property," the report said.

From 2010 to 2019, Western Kentucky University operated a Confucius Institute, which also collaborated with Kentucky's K-12 schools, according to the report. This initiative employed 11 Chinese educators placed in public elementary and high schools across various counties, including Barren and Logan counties in Kentucky. The program's reach extended to additional Kentucky counties such as Cloverport, Hardin, Jefferson and Oldham. 

Following the conclusion of Western Kentucky University's partnership with the Confucius Institute Headquarters of China in 2019, Simpson County Public Schools assumed responsibility for administering WKU's Confucius Institute. Fleming County Schools, Fayette County Schools and Henderson County Schools "established Chinese language and teacher exchange programs" in association with the University of Kentucky, the report said.