To require public elementary and secondary schools to disclose certain funds received from, or contracts with, a foreign source, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The CLASS Act conditions federal financial assistance for public elementary and secondary schools on written disclosure to the Secretary of Education within 30 days after the school receives more than $10,000 in aggregate funds from a foreign source or enters one or more foreign-source contracts worth more than $10,000 in aggregate. The disclosure must identify the foreign source's name and country of origin, the amount received, terms or conditions attached to funds, and the terms and conditions of contracts.
Who Benefits and How
Parents, local school boards, state education agencies, the Department of Education, congressional education committees, national-security policy advocates, journalists, and community watchdog groups benefit from visibility into foreign money and contracts involving K-12 public schools that receive federal education funds. The 30-day trigger and $10,000 threshold make the information more timely than annual or voluntary reporting.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Public elementary schools, public secondary schools, school districts, school business officers, superintendents, school district compliance officers, foreign governments with K-12 programs, foreign exchange or cultural programs, and foreign-source contractors must track covered funds and contracts, document terms, identify country of origin, and submit disclosures promptly to preserve federal assistance eligibility.
Key Provisions
- Requires public elementary and secondary schools receiving federal financial assistance to disclose foreign-source funds above $10,000 within 30 days.
- Requires disclosure of foreign-source contracts above $10,000 in aggregate within 30 days.
- Requires the disclosure to identify the foreign source, country of origin, amounts received, funding terms and conditions, and contract terms.
- Adds definitions for applicable program, elementary school, secondary school, federal financial assistance, and foreign source.
- Uses federal aid eligibility as the enforcement hook for K-12 foreign funding transparency.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires federally assisted public elementary and secondary schools to disclose within 30 days foreign-source funds or contracts above $10,000, including source identity, country of origin, amounts, conditions, and contract terms.
Key Policy Areas
Education, Foreign Influence, Government Oversight
Primary Purpose
Requires federally assisted public elementary and secondary schools to disclose within 30 days foreign-source funds or contracts above $10,000, including source identity, country of origin, amounts, conditions, and contract terms.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Parents
- Local school boards
- State education agencies
- Department of Education
- Congressional education committees
- Journalists
- Community watchdog groups
Identified Costs
- Public elementary schools
- Public secondary schools
- School districts
- School business officers
- School district compliance officers
- Foreign governments with K-12 programs
- Foreign-source contractors
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Additional sponsors: Mr. Barr, Mrs. Houchin, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. …
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole …
Mr. Joyce of Ohio (for himself and Mr. Rulli) introduced …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Public elementary schools, Public secondary schools, School administrators
On Passage
CLASS Act
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "foreign_source"
- → Foreign source as defined in Higher Education Act section 117(h).
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology