House Education Committee advances bills on Chinese influence, whole milk in schools

On Wednesday, the House Education Committee passed a handful of bills, including four on foreign influence in K-12 and college, and another requiring schools to serve whole milk to students alongside other milk choices. Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) said of the bills relating to foreign influence that China’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 Chinese Communist Party propaganda.” Democratic committee members said that, while opposing nefarious foreign influence in schools, they feared that the proposed legislation would create paperwork burdens on schools, and could be discriminatory by targeting certain countries and researchers focusing on nationality rather than security risks. The bill on school milk would mend 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.