- An Oct. 21 report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) identified more than $10 million in funding from Qatar Foundation International (QFI) to public school programs in nearly two dozen U.S. districts, primarily supporting Arabic language and cultural education. FDD said some QFI-funded teaching materials contained maps labeling Israel as Palestine. Qatari officials denied influencing classroom content, maintaining that QFI provided grants without controlling instruction.
- FDD also documented more than $17 million in grants from the Islamic Development Bank to at least 50 American Islamic private schools. The bank’s major shareholders include Iran, Qatar and Turkey. Separately, researchers identified continuing Chinese-linked educational programs following the closure of many Confucius Institutes, including organizations providing Chinese-language instruction, teacher exchanges and school grants. The report raised concerns about foreign influence over curricula, school governance and student information.
- FDD researchers filed more than 1,400 public records requests to investigate foreign funding and found significant gaps in oversight. Unlike universities, American K-12 schools have no comparable federal requirement to disclose foreign contributions. The report highlighted Georgia’s 2026 foreign-funding disclosure law and proposed federal legislation that would give parents access to information about foreign-funded educational materials and programs. FDD recommended stronger transparency requirements and ultimately prohibiting foreign funding in K-12 classrooms.