OPINION
Parents face a growing list of concerns in their children’s schools, from critical race theory to gender ideology to antisemitism and invasive surveys.
Even the crisis at the southern border is spilling into classrooms, like Denver Public Schools turning school facilities into migrant shelters, disrupting learning environments and consequently affecting students' learning.
Unfortunately, there is another concern to keep parents of schoolchildren up at night: the Chinese Communist Party and their subtle strategy to woo America’s young in classrooms across the nation with favorable attitudes towards China, President Xi, and Chinese state-directed socialism.
An alarming investigative report from 2023 entitled, "Little Red Classrooms" by Parents Defending Education showed that from 2009 to 2023, 143 school districts received almost $18 million for programs by Chinese Communist Party-linked entities, including 20 districts located near military bases.
This money was for "Confucius Classrooms," which are described as "centers that teach Chinese language and culture."
Confucius programming creates a partnership between K-12 schools, universities or nonprofits, and a Chinese government entity.
In August of 2020, The Department of State released a fact sheet reporting that Confucius Institutes (Confucius Classrooms’ collegiate counterpart) "operate with heavy oversight from the United Front Work Department, the Chinese Communist Party’s overseas propaganda and influence operation."
These centers of "Chinese language and culture" are labelled by the U.S. Department of State as Chinese Communist Party propaganda operations.
Even so, some say that pointing out Chinese Communist Party linked funding in K-12 schools "can fuel anti-Asian American bias," but parents overwhelmingly do not agree.
A poll released by Parent Defending Education earlier this month shows that 91% of parents agree that school districts should be required to disclose when they accept money from foreign governments.
This includes parents from across the political spectrum with 94% of Republican parents, 90% of independent parents, and 90% of Democratic parents agreeing that school districts should be required to disclose when they accept money from foreign governments.
This is an increase from a July 2023 poll of registered voters showing 87% of voters agree that schools should be required to disclose when they accept money from foreign governments.
Additionally, Parents Defending Education’s national poll of parents reveals that 81% of parents believe it's inappropriate for schools to share student data with foreign governments that fund school programs.
Two thirds of parents believe school officials should not be able to share school information, including curriculum and lesson plans, with foreign countries without making these interactions publicly disclosed.
So, why do parents want transparency when it comes to foreign funding in K-12 schools?
Parents unquestionably have the right to know what their children are being taught in school and who is influencing their education.
Moreover, they do not have time to submit public records requests, dig through endless documents and contracts, and determine if Chinese Communist Party linked entities (or other adversarial foreign governments) might be funding their child’s school and infiltrating it with communist propaganda.
Their plates are full, making sure their kids are ready for school every morning, getting them on the bus, commuting to work, putting in a 40-plus hour work week, going to sports games, making dinner, and ensuring the kids' homework is done.
When schools tell parents that the class their student is participating in is being sponsored by an organization with ties to a foreign government, then parents could choose wisely on whether or not they want their child to attend that class --- or even that school!
Parents could then ask for the class curriculum to see if any bias exists.
Maybe there is a slanted perspective of a historical event being taught or a one-sided view of a political ideology (i.e. communism) is being presented in class.
Or, parents could obtain the agreement for the program to identify if any of their student’s data is being shared with the group that is linked to an adversarial foreign government or what a foreign government might be getting in return for their money. Both of these situations present a much lower bar for parents to make an informed decision.
But parents can’t act if they’re kept in the dark about foreign funding and influence in their child’s school.
Transparency isn’t just what the supermajority of parents want; it’s a fundamental necessity to build trust between parents, school administrators, and school boards, ensuring schools are answerable to parents — not external adversarial influences.
Schools must put the interests of American families first and give parents the peace of mind they deserve.
Paul Runko is a Digital Communications Specialist for Parents Defending Education. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, he is also a proud father of two.