Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) administration is requesting that Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) sever ties to Chinese Communist Party-linked entities.
“I am requesting that you direct schools within your division to cut ties with CCP-linked partners,” Virginia Education Secretary Aimee Rogstad Guidera wrote in a letter to district superintendent Michelle Reid.
Citing the Youngkin administration’s “commitment to banning political indoctrination” in schools, Guidera said, “The news that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) and the TJHSST Partnership Fund (Fund) have accepted significant financial contributions from entities known to have connections with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) raises significant concerns.”
The Old Dominion education secretary demanded answers to how much money was accepted from Chinese entities, how the money has been used, if the entities have attempted to influence curriculum content or instruction, various materials provided to the entities, and if any private student information was provided to them.
Guidera said she has directed the Virginia Department of Education to investigate CCP linkages to school systems across the Old Dominion.
As Breitbart News reported, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ), an elite public high school in Fairfax County, Virginia, has received over one million dollars from Chinese interests in exchange for help developing similar schools in China.
TJ boasts advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and lab research programs for high school students.
Since 2014, TJ has received over $250,000 from Tsinghua University High School (TUHS) in Beijing — a school closely tied to Tsinghua University, which the Pentagon considers to be a Chinese military university.
FCPS defended the link to Chinese interests, saying, “It is not unusual for elite public schools, colleges, and universities in the U.S. to benefit from donations and grants from various sources, including international sources.”
“We are grateful that Gov. Youngkin and Secretary Guidera have taken swift steps to investigate the scope of this scandal – not only at TJ, but throughout the Commonwealth,” Parents Defending Education president Nicole Neily, whose organization helped unearth the CCP ties, said. “This incident highlights the acute need for federal lawmakers to address this problem going forward, and to mandate disclosure of foreign funding to America’s K-12 schools.”
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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