Iran May Be Funding K-12 Education in America

It took years of research and advocacy before education leaders realized that foreign funding in education can have negative consequences. China’s Confucius Institutes were among the first examples of a foreign government buying its way into the hearts and minds of America’s youth. But we now know that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and free foreign language classes, teacher conferences, and study abroad opportunities come at the cost of allowing foreign government — some with bad intentions — to shape our children’s view of the world.

In one case of concern, it now looks like Tehran may have taken a page out of the People’s Republic of China’s playbook by sending money to fund K-12 schools in the United States.

Money from Tehran’s Islamist dictatorship may be funding K-12 schools in the United States through a third party, the Islamic Development Bank, or IsDB. The bank’s website shows it has spent $13.1 million to support 44 K-12 schools in America. We know very little about how this money shapes K-12 education because disclosure requirements are negligible — a problem that both state and federal legislation should fix.

IsDB is a multilateral institution with the declared purpose of promoting economic and social development within Muslim communities globally. Funding private Islamic schools in the United States is not a major part of what the bank does, but Americans have reasons to be concerned about foreign influence in our schools.

Funding for individual institutions can be substantial. Brighter Horizons Academy (BHA) in Texas, which serves more than 900 students in grades K-12, received approximately $995,000 for construction and expansion.

IsDB has a board of governors comprised of representatives from its 57 member countries, including Iran, the “State of Palestine,” and friends of Hamas such as Qatar and Turkey. Saudi Arabia is the top contributor and home to the bank’s headquarters. According to IsDB’s website, Iran is the third largest shareholder of IsDB’s subscribed capital, contributing about 8.25 percent of total capital.

Dr. Seyed Rahmatollah Akrami, a former acting economy minister, serves as the IsDB governor representing Iran. In May, Akrami attended the IsDB annual meeting in Algiers, where he met with IsDB President Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser and affirmed Iran’s commitment “…to deepening bilateral cooperation in pursuit of shared development goals.”

A teacher from one IsDB funded school had a misguided approach to development. Al-Huda school in Maryland was given $300,000 by IsDB, however, one of their third-grade teachers was convicted for ” conspiring and supporting a terrorist organization in Pakistan.”

In recent years, researchers have uncovered astounding amounts of foreign money being poured into higher education institutions throughout the United States. Perhaps that money wouldn’t garner so much attention if it had no connection to extreme misconduct. Unfortunately, we’ve seen chaos on campuses, and anti-American and anti-Jewish curricular materials in classrooms — much of it supported by foreign actors. This development is especially concerning given the relationships between Iran, China, Russia, and Qatar — all of which influence education in the United States. 

At face value, the IsDB’s mission appears humanitarian, but the fact that the bank draws support from countries like Iran that are openly hostile to American interests should lead to a reevaluation of whether IsDB’s funding is acceptable. As the number of Islamic schools in America grows, we face the troubling possibility of educational materials, books, and campuses increasingly funded by regimes with anti-American agendas.

Regulating and limiting this kind of foreign influence is necessarily the role of government, both state and federal. There is a need for oversight committees within the state education departments to regularly review foreign influence in schools, especially those with significant international financial support.

Moreover, it should actively motivate domestic funding versus international funding to reduce dependency on foreign financial sources. Additionally, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should introduce measures requiring these educational institutions to transparently disclose the exact utilization of foreign funds. Only by demanding transparency, eliminating incentives for accepting foreign funding, and ensuring our educational institutions are free from foreign influence can we protect them from foreign hijacking.

Brandy Shufutinsky is the director of Education and National Security at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), which examines the threats and vulnerabilities within America’s education system, where Pavak Patel is a senior network mapping and data analyst. Follow Brandy on X @76brandy76. Follow Pavak on X @PavakPatel. Follow FDD on X @FDD.