Cruz Introduces Bill to Curb CCP Influence in US Schools

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) talks with members of the media in Washington on March 22, 2024. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced legislation on July 29 to minimize the influence of China and other foreign actors in schools across the United States.

The Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act would address an issue that has gained significant attention, as states such as Oklahoma have attempted to mitigate the impact of programs that are associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Under the TRACE Act, schools would be required to offer parents the opportunity to analyze, or “trace,” any curriculum that is provided by foreign actors or acquired with funds from foreign sources.

Although the CCP is not named in the legislation, Cruz referred to the regime explicitly in his announcement about the bill.

“The Chinese Communist Party expends vast resources to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think,” he said. “The CCP continues to target American educational institutions, as do other foreign adversaries. The TRACE Act will give parents the transparency they need and deserve, and help safeguard classrooms from foreign influence.”

The Senate bill is a companion to the House version of the same legislation, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.). The House bill has already passed out of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and is awaiting a floor vote in the lower chamber.

Bean spoke to his and Cruz’s efforts to encourage transparency regarding CCP influence in schools.

“American schools are for education, not espionage,” Bean said in a news release. “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.

“That’s why it’s so important we solidify the rights of parents to know how foreign influence may be impacting their child’s classroom and take concrete steps to deter the ability of foreign nations to reach America’s youth.”

Parental Rights

Under the TRACE Act, parents would be informed if any school employees are being compensated by foreign countries or adversaries and whether any foreign nations have made donations to the institution.

This act is designed to complement the Parents Bill of Rights, introduced by Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.), which passed the House in 2023. The Parents Bill of Rights seeks to grant parents more than a dozen specific rights, enhancing their access to and oversight of their children’s education.

The Confucius Institute U.S. Center in Washington is a nonprofit organization that claims to promote Chinese language and cultural education via its network of Confucius Institute offices at various colleges and universities across the United States, as well as “Confucius Classrooms” designed for grade school students.

According to a 2018 report by the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission, the Confucius Institute and its associate satellite programs across the country are funded and supervised by the CCP, despite their status as Chinese language, culture, and history institutes.

The influence of the CCP in American schools has been a continuing issue of concern for many, including the organization Parents Defending Education, which published a report in July of last year that shed light on the relationship between public school boards across the country and the CCP-aligned Confucius Institute.

According to the report, 143 U.S. school districts received $17.9 million from the Confucius Institute between 2009 and 2023.

The Parents Defending Education report indicates that numerous school districts maintained their partnerships with the CCP-aligned program, despite the fact that numerous Confucius Institute partnerships have been terminated due to heightened Western scrutiny.

At the university level, the Confucius Institute has been accused of attempting to stifle debate at universities, and the National Defense Authorization Act previously barred the Department of Defense from providing funds to institutions of higher education that host Confucius Institutes, due to concern about ties to the CCP.