Columbus schools receive grants to teach Chinese

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Central Ohio students are learning Chinese through a program that's supported by the Chinese government and raised concerns in other parts of the United States.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the Gahanna-Jefferson school district and Columbus School for Girls each earned a $30,000 grant from a nonprofit group sponsored by China's government. It connects the students to dozens of U.S. schools in the Confucius Class network, which promotes cultural exchange with China.

The setup raised concerns in areas such as Los Angeles, where opponents pushed for schools not to use textbooks from the nonprofit and argued students would be taught communist ideology.

School officials in central Ohio say they haven't heard such complaints and Chinese officials don't influence what they teach.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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