A bill has been filed in Congress to require transparency about foreign influence in K-12 public schools nationwide. The bill does not ban foreign influence in public schools or threaten to withhold federal education funds if such influence is made public.
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., introduced the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act in the Senate. U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Florida, introduced companion legislation in the House.
The five-page bill would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to add a section, “Parents’ Right To Know About Foreign Influence.” It would require each local educational agency that received federal education funds to require its elementary and secondary schools to provide parents with “any curricular material or professional development material used at the school that was purchased, or otherwise obtained, using funds received from the government of a foreign country or a foreign entity of concern.”
