Qatar Funds Anti-American, Anti-Jewish K-12 Education in the US

NAVI board member and Director of Foundation for Defense of Democracy’s (FDD) Program on Education and National Security, Dr. Brandy Shufutinsky, describes coordinated foreign influence in K-12 education.

This address took place at the House Education and Workforce Committee hearings on The Spread of Antisemitism and Anti-Americanism in K-12 schools.

The transcript follows the clip. Watch:

Transcript

There are multiple ways that anti-Jewish and anti-American ideology is becoming institutionalized in K through 12 education, including teacher training programs, foreign-funded materials, radical union members, and curriculum development organizations.FDD has found foreign funding going directly to developing curriculum and K through 12, teachers’ salaries in multiple states, and multiple public school districts receive funds from Qatari Foundation International, an instrument of the Qatari royal family. [It]is somehow able to operate as a 501©3 nonprofit in the United States outside of Foreign Agents Registration Act regulations.

Outside organizations frequently partner with school districts to provide teacher training and curriculum development. This has opened the door for foreign and domestic actors such as the Arab Resource and Organizing Committee, known by its acronym, AROC.
In 2023, AROC not only provided teacher training but also direct services to students in San Francisco’s public schools. On October 7, on its Instagram page, this organization endorsed the kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of 1200 Israelis, calling for a protest in front of the Israeli Embassy on October 8.

Within two weeks, AROC had produced a toolkit guide for K through 12 students on how to conduct student walkouts. AROC is but one of many malign domestic actors that have ties to US-designated foreign terrorist organizations that are developing curriculum for children as young as kindergarten.

Look Away from Gaza for a Moment

People are paying so much attention to Gaza, they haven’t seen what is going on in the US. One example follows.

The City of Chicago is allowing a “donation” from Qatar Foundation of $100,000 to Lincoln Park High School in Chicago, to fund “Arabic studies,” however, it’s not a language course. I’m not aware of how much more they are providing to other schools, but we do know that an AMP office in London supplied scripts and stickers for the Chicago high school’s Intifada walk-out, which the mayor initiated. We need to prevent these vendors from getting vendor numbers in our school districts. Why is any foreign funding coming into our schools?