Evergreen Reporter

Parents Defending Education (PDE) recently released a report proving the existence of "Confucius Classrooms" in the United States that are currently in operation. These classrooms are designed to teach the Chinese language and culture and partner with the Chinese government.

"State and federal officials should immediately begin investigations to determine the scope of China’s involvement, influence, and access to our K-12 student information and curriculum," PDE wrote in the report. "This report should be made public once complete, so parents can make informed decisions on their children’s involvement in these controversial programs. Families should also have full access to view how these cultural and language immersion programs are financed."

PDE, an organization dedicated to "reclaiming schools from activists imposing harmful agendas," released the report last week, providing evidence of "Confucius Classrooms," referred to as "Little Red Classrooms" in the report. The findings show that these classrooms are both funded and programmed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Currently, 13 Confucius Institutes are still functioning, while 108 institutes have either closed or are in the process of shutting down. According to PDE, Minnesota, Kentucky, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma and Washington currently have schools that are still associated with the CCP.

PDE's affiliated organization, PDE Action, forwarded the report's findings in letters to House Education & Workforce Committee Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and Rep. Mike McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee from Texas. A similar letter was also sent to 33 governors, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. As per the report, a total of $17,967,565 in funding was uncovered across 143 U.S. school districts, including 20 near U.S. military bases, all of which have connections to the CCP, according to Fox News.

"At the Congressional level, committees of jurisdiction should move to hold hearings to determine the scope of this security vulnerability, and specifically to evaluate how China’s infiltration of our K-12 classrooms has compromised student information, curriculum data, and America’s intellectual property," PDE said in the report.

In Washington, the Issaquah School District 411 was granted $8,000.00 to aid the Confucius Classroom at Skyline High School in 2017. Meanwhile, 2020 tax forms disclose that the Bellevue School District, Peninsula School District and Seattle Public Schools show affiliations with "The Asia Society," according to ProPublica. The Asia Society aims "to navigate shared futures for Asia and the world across policy, arts and culture, education, sustainability, business, and technology," according to their website.