STATEMENT: PDE Action Supports Sen. Ted Cruz’s TRACE Act

July 31, 2025

Senator Cruz’s TRACE Act is extremely necessary. Parents should know if a foreign government or entity is providing funding to their children’s schools, trying to influence what is taught to them or seeking to access important data and intellectual property. A 2023 investigation from our partner organization Defending Education uncovered Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence in numerous public schools and school districts across the nation. Their research showed that entities with ties to the CCP such as the Confucius Institutes have provided curriculum content, funding and Chinese teachers to U.S. public schools. Disturbingly, they also found that the Chinese government efforts appeared to target school districts near over twenty American bases. Our investigation, however, only discovered some or the CCP’s growing involvement in our public schools. The TRACE Act would ensure that parents have a full and continuous accounting of China’s meddling in their children’s education.

Alfonso Aguilar, Director of Federal Affairs for Parents Defending Education Action

Read the press release here and the full text of the bill here.