China to pay for language programs in U.S. schools?

[link to www.cnn.com]

Is this going to be a growing trend??

"A school district outside Columbus, Ohio, is on track to receive more than $1 million in federal grant money for its Chinese arts and language program. But what's really caught people's attention is the $30,000 that the district is getting from the government of China.

The Gahanna-Jefferson School District began teaching Mandarin Chinese four years ago and since then, the number of students in the program has increased from about 40 to 350.

Administrators felt China should have a home in their suburban Ohio school system since the communist country has the world's second-largest economy and is becoming increasingly relevant."