Southwest
Landmark bill targets hidden foreign funds in schools as officials warn of CCP influence
EXCLUSIVE: A new House bill introduced Friday seeks to mandate that parents be informed of any foreign-sourced or funded curricula as a stipulation of their child’s school receiving federal support.
The subject has grown in significance in recent months as states like Oklahoma have sought to blunt the influence of programs purportedly connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) such as “Confucius Classrooms.”
In Congress, members of the House Education & Workforce Committee put forward the bill Friday afternoon and expect to move it through the legislative process soon, lawmakers involved told Fox News Digital.
The TRACE (Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education) Act will require schools to allow parents the opportunity to review any curriculum that has been provided by or purchased with foreign funds.
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It will also require that schools notify parents of any foreign contracts or financial transactions they partake in.
The legislation is also intended as a compliment to the Parents Bill of Rights, legislation crafted by Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La. that passed the House in 2023. That legislation would give parents more than a dozen stipulated “rights” that provide more access to and transparency over their child’s daily learning.
Friday’s bill also stipulated parents be notified of how many school employees, if any, are being compensated by another country or “foreign entity of concern” and whether foreign actors have donated to the institution.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chairs the House Education Committee, and said Friday the TRACE Act will keep parents better informed.
“We know that significant investments from foreign nations are flowing into America’s K-12 schools, possibly impacting decisions regarding personnel or curriculum,” Foxx said.
“As it stands, school administrators are not required to share where their funding comes from. That’s unacceptable.”
Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., chief sponsor of the TRACE Act, said U.S. schools are for “education, not espionage” and that parents should be in control.
“We cannot allow our students — the future of our great nation — to be corrupted by foreign adversaries who are systematically and aggressively attempting to influence our nation’s K-12 schools,” Bean said.
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“Yet this is what happens when our institutions of learning accept the Trojan Horse of foreign funding. My bill aims to solidify the rights of parents to know how foreign influence may be impacting their child’s classroom and deter the ability of foreign nations to reach America’s youth.”
In 2023, Oklahoma’s top elected education official also called for congressional action to blunt foreign influence in schools and pledged to be on the front lines of pushing back against untoward interference in children’s education.
Oklahoma Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters said at the time it is a national security risk to allow foreign influence in U.S. schools, particularly without public or parental knowledge. His comments came after his office investigated a school district that had been utilizing the “Confucius Classroom” programs.
On Friday, Walters spoke to Fox News Digital on the broader subject of foreign interference in schools and referenced his probe into the Tulsa school system at the time, which he said has since been resolved.
In a statement to Fox News at the time, Tulsa Public Schools said the district “has no Confucius classroom programs in its schools.” In a report from The Oklahoman, the district reportedly funded a professional development class for a Chinese language teacher at one high school, which was facilitated through a Confucius Classroom Coordination Office at an outside, Texas-based organization.
Walters said the school was technically correct at the moment it claimed it did not host any such program because the timing followed the state’s announcement of a forthcoming ban.
“What we found shocking was that the funding was hidden from parents, that it was actually the Chinese Communist Party that was funding a nonprofit that was working directly in the school,” he said Friday.
He said Oklahoma has led the nation in investigating foreign influence in domestic curricula, pointing out that Florida later followed his lead in issuing similar directives.
“What we’ve done here in my agency is not allowed districts to partner with countries that are antagonistic towards the United States, as determined by our national security groups,” he said.
Walters said Oklahoma requires parents to know “who is teaching my kids” and what they are being taught.
He warned that, without such oversight, there remains the risk of foreign influence from malign nations in the same way that Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book” manipulated and indoctrinated a generation of Chinese students.
An order from Walters dated Aug. 29, 2023, provided to Fox News Digital demanded superintendents statewide provide his office with a list of foreign governments or organizations that provided funds or “in-kind services” to districts and their dollar amounts.
Walters said he gave schools about two weeks to come into compliance in that regard.
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Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
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