In recent years, the Chinese Communist regime has been expanding its influence among American K-12 students through partnerships, funding for trips to China, the remaining Confucius Classrooms, and exchange programs targeting younger students.
On August 13, 2020, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated the Confucius Institute U.S. Center as a “foreign mission” of the Chinese Communist regime under the Foreign Missions Act of 1982.
The National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2021 further cut off funding from the Department of Defense to universities hosting Confucius Institutes funded by the Chinese government, unless they obtained waivers.
These measures effectively brought an end to the Confucius Institute programs in the United States, reducing the number of institutes from a peak of 118 in 2017 to less than 5 by 2023. Subsequently, Beijing has developed various new interconnected channels to reach out to American high school students, including the remaining Confucius Classrooms, collaborative projects between individual schools, and a heavily funded national exchange program. One of the latest projects is currently underway in Chicago, Illinois.
On December 1, 2025, Taft High School signed a School Cooperation Memorandum with Shandong Jinan Ninth Middle School at the Chinese consulate in Chicago. Taft High School is currently recruiting approximately 20 students for an exchange program to China in 2027. The school’s alumni communication described this collaboration as aligned with the mission of educating global citizens under the International Baccalaureate organization.
Jinan Ninth Middle School’s work plan for the first semester of the 2025-2026 academic year, as published on its official website, emphasizes the guidance of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” and the 20 principles of the Chinese Communist Party. Emphasizing strengthening the Party’s leadership to lead the school towards high-quality development comes before teaching quality in their program.
The plan instructs the school to utilize the political learning platform “Study Strong Nation” provided by the Chinese regime for online and offline learning activities. Furthermore, it calls for building provincial-level “Party building brands,” expanding ideological and political education, and establishing a team of ideological and political teachers.
The final section mandates the establishment of a school-wide network of “information officers” to increase positive media coverage and expand the school’s official social media fanbase. This is the kind of political and educational environment that Taft High School plans to expose American high school students to.
Taft High School is not the only collaborating school in the Chicago area. On top of Sidney Sawyer Elementary School, Jones College Prep, Evanston Township High School, Barrington Station Middle School, Intercultural Montessori, and other schools have also joined in these collaborative initiatives. According to the Chinese official media outlet China Daily, at the same event last December, nine pairs of schools signed cooperation memoranda.
These new models of inter-school collaboration emerged against the backdrop of the Chinese Communist regime’s long-standing involvement in American K-12 education through the Confucius Classrooms. According to the National Association of Scholars, during the peak period of Confucius Classrooms, over 500 schools in the U.S. were operating the program, roughly four times the number of university Confucius Institutes.
Unlike the university-level Confucius Institutes, the survival of Confucius Classrooms in American K-12 schools largely stems from the fact that federal crackdowns primarily target universities rather than public school districts. In a report in 2023, Parents Defending Education highlighted that there were still 143 school districts offering Confucius Classroom-style programs, with 20 districts located near active military bases.
The surviving network of Confucius Classrooms is not the sole channel through which Beijing engages with American students. Following the 2023 report, Parents Defending Education conducted an investigation into the Young Envoys Scholarship program, documenting the participation of 83 universities and 27 K-12 schools from 30 states. The program was described as part of a global soft power propaganda effort aimed at advancing the political and cultural agenda of the Chinese regime, with the intention to influence how American youth perceive China (the CCP).
Managed by the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) based in Beijing, the Young Envoys Scholarship program aligns its guidance with Marxist-Leninist, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important ideological thoughts of the Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, all of which steadfastly uphold the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
The House Select Committee on the CCP found that the China Education Association for International Exchange is one of the front organizations of the CCP previously identified by U.S. intelligence agencies, charged with advancing Beijing’s united front work.
United Front work is the term used by the CCP to refer to actions aimed at eliminating international influences opposing CCP policies.
The investigation conducted by Parents Defending Education recorded several examples beyond Taft High School in Chicago.
Muscatine High School in Iowa accepted fully funded visits from Beijing, where a student previously invited by CCP leader Xi Jinping was called his “friend.” Federal Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Republican/Iowa) labeled the visit as involving national security, warning of the extensive influence of the CCP in the U.S.
Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago was also listed as a participant in the Young Envoys Scholarship program, with a delegation from the school visiting China in June and July of 2025.
The connections between the Young Envoys Scholarship program and American students do not end when they return home. The YES Friends Club maintains contact with past participants through competitions and activities. At last year’s project launch event, Chinese Consul General Wang Baodong in Chicago stated that under the initiative of President Xi Jinping, nearly 5000 young people from the Chicago consulate district had engaged in exchanges with China, with the goal to bring “50,000 American youth to China for exchange and learning” within five years.
The activity also unveiled a book titled “East Meets West: Stories of 100 American High School Students in China,” compiling articles from participants of the Young Envoys Scholarship program.
The concerns that led to the dissolution of the university-level Confucius Institute network in Washington are now equally applicable to the expanding Confucius Classroom project in American K-12 schools. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray characterized the CCP’s strategy as a whole-of-society campaign, and lawmakers have labeled these institutes as national security threats and platforms for CCP intelligence gathering and political interference.
However, federal responses have primarily targeted universities, leaving public schools lacking similar protective measures. Beijing’s influence campaign has not ceased but shifted towards school collaborations, funded exchange programs, and permanent networks targeting younger demographics.