An elite public high school in northern Virginia, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, is under investigation following revelations that it provided its STEM curriculum to Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked organizations in exchange for $3.6 million in donations. These transactions, facilitated through the school’s affiliated charity, the Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund, have prompted a formal complaint to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Between 2014 and 2021, the Partnership Fund received substantial contributions from three organizations associated with the CCP. In return, these entities obtained detailed academic materials, which were subsequently used to establish at least 20 “Thomas Schools” in China, mirroring the Virginia school’s educational model. The Partnership Fund reported these payments as charitable contributions in its filings to the IRS.
The watchdog group Defending Education filed a complaint with the IRS, asserting that these payments were not genuine charitable contributions but rather compensation for the school’s intellectual property. The complaint states, “The facts strongly suggest that the Fund operated as a pass-through to sell the intellectual property of Thomas Jefferson High School—America’s premier public high school and a legally distinct entity—to organizations linked to the Chinese government, in exchange for capital improvement funding for the school.”
Defending Education has urged the IRS to reclassify the $3.6 million as taxable business income and revoke the Partnership Fund’s tax-exempt status. Such action could result in a tax liability exceeding $756,000 for the Fund. The organization contends that the Fund’s activities are “completely unrelated” to any valid charitable purpose as defined by federal tax law.
Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow at Defending Education, emphasized the gravity of the situation: “We believe this evidently improper federal tax reporting is troubling enough to get the IRS’s attention, and we’re hoping to receive answers to these questions in due time.” She added, “American taxpayers deserve to know what they’re funding—especially when those funds could be used for partnerships in a nation overtly hostile to American interests.”
The IRS has yet to comment on the complaint.
