Florida suspends scholarships for 4 schools with ‘ties to Chinese Communist Party’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Education suspended scholarships for four schools in the state with “direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” according to state officials on Friday.

A release from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office states that FDOE investigators claimed the following four schools had ties to the CCP.

According to the release, their connections “constitute an imminent threat to the health, safety, and welfare of these schools’ students and the public.”

No information has been provided about the nature of those connections at this time.

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“The Chinese Communist Party is not welcome in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in a statement. “We will not put up with any attempt to influence students with a communist ideology or allow Floridians’ tax dollars to go to schools that are connected to our foreign adversaries.”

Earlier this year, DeSantis signed SB-846 into law, which prohibits schools affiliated with a foreign country of concern from participating in Florida’s school choice scholarship programs.

As a result, DeSantis directed the FDOE to suspend the availability of school choice scholarships to those four schools, state officials explained.

In the meantime, the FDOE is working with non-profit scholarship funding groups to help impacted students find and enroll in nearby eligible schools, the release shows.

DeSantis has been a vocal critic of the CCP and has pushed for policies to limit the group’s influence in the state, such as banning the purchase of farmland by the CCP and restricting the use of apps like TikTok on government-issued devices.

News 6 has reached out to the affected schools for their reactions to the recent decision and is awaiting a response.

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