Three bills, three overlapping ways of tackling the malign influence that the Chinese Communist Party attempts to exert on American education by money and the propaganda distributors known as or formerly known as Confucius Institutes (the names have been changed to protect the guilty) (Fox News, December 4, 2025).
Three bills
HR1069, the Promoting Responsible Oversight To Eliminate Communist Teachings for Our Kids Act or PROTECT Our Kids Act, would cut off federal funding to any K-12 school that gets any direct or indirect funding from the Chinese government.
HR1105, the Combating the Lies of Authoritarians in School Systems Act or CLASS Act, would prevent federal funding from going to K-12 schools that accept funds from or enter into a contract with “the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party, or any individual or entity acting on behalf of the Chinese government or the CCP. The bill also requires schools to disclose funding from or contracts with a foreign source to the Department of Education.”
The CLASS Act is sort of like the PROTECT Our Kids Act except that it tries to discourage contractual arrangements with the CCP et al. as well as to discourage accepting of funds from the CCP et al.
HR1049, the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education Act or TRACE Act seems the weakest of the bunch. It would require local educational agencies “to notify parents of their right to request and receive information regarding foreign influence in schools as a condition of those schools receiving federal and secondary education funds.” The bill says: “Parents must submit a written request for this information.”
This seems to mean that even if the schools accept CCP funding, they can still get federal funding from Washington as long as parents are notified not of the Chinese Communist Party influence but of their right to get information about such influence if they ask. Why the extra layers? Why doesn’t the TRACE Act require that parents be notified of the CCP funding and influence? And what happens if parents ask to be notified and then are notified and then object to the CCP funding and influence? Does the school then automatically say “Fine, we’re permanently severing our relationship with the CCP entity”? In America 2025, public school officials do not invariably strive to resolve the legitimate concerns of parents.
The TRACE Act seems specifically designed to have no traceable effect on the problem.
These bills have been passed in the U.S. House and now are being considered in the U.S. Senate.
“China wants to influence what American students learn in classrooms from kindergarten through college. These commonsense bills will protect them from Chinese propaganda and shine a light on how China tries to influence our education system,” says Congressman John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
At least two of the three bills would do something that seems as if it might have a good effect. But why not just prohibit schools outright from entering into contracts with or accepting money from CCP-related organizations? And provide for mechanisms of reporting and enforcement? “We won’t send you federal money if you do this” is not by itself a ban. The schools should not be getting any federal funding anyway.
Also see:
National Association of Scholars: After Confucius Institutes: China’s Enduring Influence on American Higher Education
“The demise of Confucius Institutes, one of China’s most strategic beachheads in American higher education, has not deterred the Chinese government from seeking alternative means of influencing American colleges and universities…. Among its most successful tactics…has been the effort to rebrand Confucius Institute–like programs under other names.”
