Cruz goes on to “safeguard classrooms from foreign influence” by empowering parents to review material

US Senator Ted Cruz hopes to “safeguard classrooms” from foreign influence from China and others with a new bill to be introduced on Monday.

Information about curricula obtained or funded by foreign entities must be provided to parents who request the information in the bill introduced by the Texas Republican. Cruz's Disclosure of Adversary Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act is a companion bill to legislation introduced in June by House Education Committee member Aaron Bean (R-FL).

“The Chinese Communist Party exerts great resources to control what Americans see, hear and ultimately think,” Cruz said. seconds on Fox News.

“The CCP continues to target American educational institutions, just like other foreign adversaries. The TRACE Act will give parents the transparency they need and deserve, and help protect classrooms from foreign influence,” he added.

Information on funding sources will be provided at no cost to parents who request it, according to the bill and parents' rights under the policy should be clearly displayed or communicated by school districts.

“When parents send their children to school, they should have peace of mind knowing where the education funds are coming from,” said Michele Exner, director of federal affairs for Parents Defending Education, an organization that has supported Cruz's measure.

“Unfortunately, there is alarming evidence found by our partner organization, Parents Defending Education, showing that foreign nations, particularly adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party, are attempting to use America's classrooms to advance their strategic goals at the expense of the our country. We cannot allow this to happen,” Exner added.

Congressman Bean, chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, introduced the landmark bill in June. Its goal was to “strengthen the rights of parents to know how foreign funding is affecting their children's classroom and adds a layer of deterrence to prevent foreign nations from reaching America's youth,” according to a news release.

“America's schools are for education, not espionage. We cannot allow our students, the future of our great nation, to be corrupted by foreign adversaries who systematically and aggressively attempt to influence K-schools -12 of our nation,” Bean told Fox News at the time.

“But this is what happens when our institutions of learning accept the Trojan horse of foreign funding. My bill aims to strengthen parents' rights to know how foreign influence may be affecting their children's classroom their children and deter the ability of foreign nations to reach America's youth,” he added.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who chairs the House Education Committee, believed the measure would keep parents better informed.

“We know that significant investments from foreign nations are flowing into U.S. K-12 schools, potentially affecting staffing or curriculum decisions,” Foxx said. “As it stands, school administrators are not required to share where their funding comes from. This is unacceptable.”

Last year, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters cited the national security risk posed by Chinese influence in education.

“What we found is the [Chinese Communist Party] has funded Confucius Classrooms inside American schools, which, in his own words, is a propaganda campaign for a soft power attempt to undermine the Constitution and American values. We're taking steps to end this in Oklahoma,” he previously told Fox News.

“That is not why China is … investing programs in the country … They told us why they are investing, absolutely [in] a propaganda campaign to undermine American values,” he said as he called on Congress to act.

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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