Rep. Jim Banks is calling on the Department of Education to investigate the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on the nation’s K-12 schools.
Parents Defending Education, a national grassroots organization for parents to hold schools accountable, has recently filed a report titled “Little Red Classrooms.” In this report, they have found that 143 school districts have partnered with Confucius Institutes to provide ‘cultural and language immersion programs’.
Confucius Institutes, Chinese-funded institutes at US universities, were investigated during the Trump administration after concerns of propaganda. The risk of security threats caused several universities to close their institutes.
Rep. Banks has written to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to push for a similar investigation at a K-12 level. The PDE’s “Little Red Classrooms” report showed that 34 states have Confucius Classroom partnerships. Over the course of 143 school districts, several near US military bases, they have funneled over $17 million in Chinese government funds, according to the report.
The Hoosier Congressman is hoping an audit will be conducted in order to determine how much school funding is from “hostile adversaries.” He urges the Department of Education to “institute departmental solutions to halt foreign influence, oversight, or intellectual property theft in our K-12 schools.”
Rep. Banks joined the Hammer and Nigel Show to discuss more details on Chinese funded US education, why that’s a problem, and more:
