K-12 Dive: House education committee advances bills on Chinese influence, whole milk in schools

Wednesday’s actions marked the first bills reported out of the House education committee in the new session of Congress. As such, they provided an early indicator of the priorities for the committee under the new leadership of Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich.

Speaking in favor of the bills relating to China, Walberg said the Chinese Communist Party’s “influence in American classrooms is pervasive across all levels of education. In K-12 schools, Confucius Classrooms pose as cultural exchange centers yet often act as vehicles for CCP propaganda.”

Democratic committee members said they oppose nefarious foreign influence in schools but were concerned the bills at hand were arbitrary, would create paperwork burdens on schools, and could be discriminatory by targeting certain countries and researchers focusing on nationality rather than security risks.

“This bill undermines international collaborations that have historically advanced fields like health and technology,” said ranking member Bobby Scott, D-Va.

In speaking out against a bill “to eliminate communist teachings,” Scott said, “There’s no clear evidence that there is even any significant foreign influence in K through 12 schools. This bill fails to address any actual threats, even if they did exist.”

The four bills involving Chinese and other foreign influence in schools include:

• HR 1048, the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act.
• H.R. 1069, Promoting Responsible Oversight to Eliminate Communist Teachings (PROTECT) Our Kids Act.
• H.R. 1005, Combating the Lies of Authoritarians in School Systems (CLASS) Act.
• H.R. 1049, Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act.

The fifth bill considered — H.R. 649, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 — had been a mostly bipartisan effort when considered in the last Congress. The 2025 version would amend the National School Lunch Act to allow participating schools to offer lunches with milk choices, including flavored and unflavored organic or non-organic whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, fat-free and lactose-free milk.

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