Tulsa Schools one of 7 US districts to allow Chinese Communist Party's Confucius Classroom program

Tulsa Public Schools made the Mail Online on July 30, 2023, as one of 7 school districts in the US with active contracts for Confucius Classrooms, a propaganda outreach of the Chinese Communist Party.

China is funding America's public schools to the tune of $17 million dollars, it has been revealed, with Republicans now probing the disturbing donations.

The report by Parents Defending Education states that the close coordination between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and U.S. schools to establish Confucius Classrooms has historically included 143 school districts in 34 states and Washington, D.C.

In addition, at least seven contracts are still active in Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington.

A year ago, July 2022, BatesLine reported on the Tulsa Public Schools board vote on accepting a Confucius Classroom grant for Booker T. Washington High School, the ninth year of the program. The grant had been hidden in a "consent agenda," a long list of items to be approved en masse without discussion or debate, but because three of the six board members present voted against the agenda, several items were brought back individually for consideration at a later meeting. Only one board member, newly elected District 4 member E'Lena Ashley, had the courage and wisdom to vote against accepting the grant and contract "with International Leadership of Texas, in partnership with Confucius Classroom Coordination Offices."

This map ran with the Daily Mail's story:

The story cites PDE's recent report, "Little Red Classrooms," and quotes several Members of Congress concerned by the findings:

Rep. Jim Banks is demanding the Education Department take action with 'urgency' in in order to terminate these 'disturbing' partnerships, he says in a letter to Sec. Miguel Cardona on Wednesday obtained by DailyMail.com.

'The Chinese Communist Party is not a trustworthy partner. Accepting funding and influence from our greatest adversary is a threat to America's children and national security,' Banks told DailyMail.com.

He wrote in the letter that the U.S. must 'take every measure' to strengthen its defenses against China including by 'blocking their ability to propagandize in America's K-12 schools.'...

PDE's "Little Red Classrooms" report also mentions Tulsa's "Carver Middle School... which became a "Confucius School" through Hanban&emdash;the subdivision of the Chinese Ministry of Education that, until 2021, operated Confucius Institutes and Classrooms. (This is mentioned on the Carver website under the Global Awareness tab and has beencaptured by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.)

PDE discusses the use of third-party organizations to mask the funding ties to the Chinese Communist Party:

Other districts mask Chinese government funding through third-party nonprofit entities. Such is the case in schools in Oklahoma, Texas, and North Carolina.

Take the International Leadership of Texas Global, for example--a nonprofit organization that has taken on being an administration apparatus and passthrough for the continuation of the Confucius Classroom programming. Tulsa Public Schools' Board of Education has a contract with the Confucius Classroom Coordination Offices through the International Leadership of Texas Global. Highland Park Independent School District in Texas also received funding from the International Leadership of Texas Global to facilitate its "Chinese core curriculum."

As BatesLine reported last year, International Leadership of Texas operates a network of 22 charter schools, with four more campuses currently in development, plus 4 affiliated private high schools. Recent news items on their website indicate that alignment with China and its Communist government is a high priority for the organization, and also reinforce concerns raised by PDE about Chinese Communist influence over Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Programs at Confucius Classroom schools:

• First and Only ILTexas Student Thrives in Chinese Flagship Program: A student ILTexas Katy-Westpark High School is the "first and only ILTexas student to attend the university's Flagship Program within its Intensive Chinese Program in the Summer Language Institute. Her accomplishments are so impressive, Ole Miss has offered to pay for the dual credit opportunity this Fall."
• ILTexas Opens New State-of-the-Art Marine Corps JROTC Facility: "ILTexas has the highest Marine Corps JROTC enrollment percentage of any high school in the country where MCJROTC enrollment is optional. An ILTexas cadet spoke at the ceremony, stating the new facility 'will be the center of gravity for cadets to learn leadership, develop their character, and become the best versions of themselves.'"
• Ole Miss Sees Record Number of Students for Chinese Program, Most from ILTexas: "The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) welcomed 74 high school students for its Summer Language Institute, and reports in a University news article that the Intensive Chinese Program drew a record number of rising juniors and seniors. 69 of the 74 students who attended the summer program are ILTexas students.... International Leadership of Texas' mission is to prepare students for exceptional leadership roles in the international community. The United States declares Chinese as a critical language, recognizing it as a National Security Language. Therefore, all ILTexas students master Mandarin Chinese as part of the core curriculum."
• Summer Camp Highlights Cybersecurity, Language and Leadership for ILTexas Students: "In addition to Cybersecurity and Leadership, students also practiced their Mandarin Chinese during the summer camp, as it's a National Security Language. All ILTexas students take Chinese language classes during the regular school year with the goal of mastering the language by graduation."
• "This is the closest thing to actually going to China:" ILTexas Students Dive Into the Chinese Culture at the University of Mississippi : "ILTexas is proud to partner with the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) to allow our students to take part in a complete Chinese cultural immersion experience.... Chinese is recognized as a National Security Language, and is a pillar of the ILTexas core curriculum. "
• Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang Visits ILTexas : "International Leadership of Texas teachers and staff filled the gym of ILTexas Garland High School on Tuesday, May 31, to welcome the Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang. A special luncheon was held in the school library for the Ambassador and ILTexas leadership. The luncheon was followed by a ceremony where ILTexas teachers, students, and headquarter staff honored the Ambassador's visit. Senator Royce West and his wife, Carol West were also in attendance."

At the July 10, 2023, Tulsa school board meeting, renewal of the Confucius Classroom agreement was once again included in the "Consent Agenda," a list of 33 items to be approved as a group by the school board without debate, as item E.7.:

RECOMMENDATION: Renew the agreement for the Confucius Classroom Coordination Offices through the International Leadership of Texas, a 501c3 organization, an international partnership dedicated to building the field of Chinese language teachers and Chinese language learning in American schools for the 2023-2024 school year.

FURTHER RECOMMEND:
The attorneys for the school district approve the appropriate contract document(s) and the proper officers of the Board of Education be authorized to execute the document(s) on behalf of the district.

COST: No cost to the district

FUND NAME/ACCOUNT: Confucius Classroom 81-2273-1000-000000-000-07-735

RATIONALE:
This will be Booker T. Washington's fourteenth year to participate in a Confucius Classroom program. International Leadership Texas, in partnership with the CCCO, offers a quality program which will allow our students to continue in the study of the Chinese language.

Note that last year's agenda claimed that 2022-2023 would be the ninth year, but this year's agenda claims that 2023-2024 is the 14th year of the program at Booker T. Washington High School. Once again, E'Lena Ashley was the only board member to vote against the contract.

Meanwhile, only 27.9% of economically disadvantaged TPS K-5 students and only 25% of Grade 6-8 students are reading at or above the national median student, but TPS administrators feel great about it -- by 2027 they hope that only two-thirds of disadvantaged TPS students will be worse readers than the national median.

MORE: Stream of the July 10, 2023, Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education meeting.