Summary — HB 4238 (2025): Public School Agreements or Grants with a “Foreign Country of Concern”
Status and timing
- Introduced: March 10/13, 2025 (Rep. Nancy Jenkins‑Arno).
- Legislative action: Passed House and Senate with amendments; enrolled May 24, 2025; sent to governor May 26, 2025.
- Signed by the Governor: June 20, 2025.
- Effective date: September 1, 2025.
- Statutory change: Adds section 1346 to the Revised School Code (1976 PA 451; MCL 380.1–380.1852).
Purpose
- To limit and regulate contracts, grants, cultural-exchange agreements, and conditioned gifts from certain foreign governments or their controlled entities to public schools in Michigan, where such arrangements could affect curriculum control, contracting freedom, or U.S. safety and security.
Key provisions
- Prohibitions (public schools shall not):
- Enter into an agreement with, or accept a grant from, a listed “foreign country of concern” if the agreement or grant:
- Constrains the school’s freedom to contract;
- Allows the foreign country to direct or control the school’s curriculum or values;
- Promotes an agenda detrimental to the safety and security of the United States or its residents (in the substitute version, this determination must be made by “the department” and by a majority vote of the local school district board).
- Accept anything of value that is conditioned on the school’s participation in a program or endeavor that promotes the language or culture of a listed foreign country of concern.
- Review of cultural exchange agreements:
- Before executing a cultural exchange agreement with a foreign country of concern, the school must share the agreement’s substance with the U.S. Department of State or another appropriate federal agency tasked with national security or enforcing trade sanctions/embargoes.
- If that federal agency determines the agreement promotes an agenda detrimental to U.S. safety or security, the school must not enter into it.
Definitions (as provided by the bill)
- “Foreign country of concern”: specifically enumerated as
- People’s Republic of China; Russian Federation; Islamic Republic of Iran; Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea); Republic of Cuba; Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Syrian Arab Republic; and any agency or entity under significant control of those countries.
- “Grant”: a transfer of money for a specified purpose, including conditional gifts.
Who is affected
- All public schools in Michigan, including local school districts, public school academies (charter schools), and intermediate school districts that enter into agreements or accept grants or conditioned gifts from the listed foreign countries or their controlled entities.
Fiscal impact
- No direct state fiscal impact estimated.
- Possible local administrative costs for schools that must submit cultural exchange agreements to federal agencies and for any compliance activity. The House Fiscal Agency notes these costs would likely be absorbed using existing staff time; the number of currently affected schools is unknown.
Notes and implementation
- The bill places both federal review (for cultural exchanges) and state/local determinations (as to whether an agreement “promotes an agenda” detrimental to safety/security) into the approval process.
- The bill becomes law effective September 1, 2025, and will be codified as an added section in the Revised School Code.
