Anonymous wrote:The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires individuals or entities acting on behalf of foreign governments or organizations in political or quasi-political capacities to disclose their relationship, activities, and finances.

If FCPS was acting at the behest or under the direction of a foreign government (China) in selling intellectual property, they might be required to register under FARA. Failure to register could result in penalties, including fines or prosecution. The key question would be whether FCPS was engaging in activities that could be considered political or influential for the foreign government, rather than just commercial transactions.

If FCPS violated FARA, the individuals who could face liability would likely be those directly responsible for the decision-making, contractual agreements, and interactions with foreign entities. This might include:

1. School District Administrators: Individuals in leadership roles who authorized or coordinated the transaction.
2. Legal or Compliance Teams: Staff responsible for ensuring adherence to federal regulations, including international dealings.
3. School Board Members: If they approved or were aware of the transaction.

Under FARA, penalties for non-compliance can be severe. Willful violations can result in fines up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to five years.

There are also other laws that could have been broken. FERPA if they shared student data.

Anonymous wrote:The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires individuals or entities acting on behalf of foreign governments or organizations in political or quasi-political capacities to disclose their relationship, activities, and finances.

If FCPS was acting at the behest or under the direction of a foreign government (China) in selling intellectual property, they might be required to register under FARA. Failure to register could result in penalties, including fines or prosecution. The key question would be whether FCPS was engaging in activities that could be considered political or influential for the foreign government, rather than just commercial transactions.

If FCPS violated FARA, the individuals who could face liability would likely be those directly responsible for the decision-making, contractual agreements, and interactions with foreign entities. This might include:

1. School District Administrators: Individuals in leadership roles who authorized or coordinated the transaction.
2. Legal or Compliance Teams: Staff responsible for ensuring adherence to federal regulations, including international dealings.
3. School Board Members: If they approved or were aware of the transaction.

Under FARA, penalties for non-compliance can be severe. Willful violations can result in fines up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to five years.

There are also other laws that could have been broken. FERPA if they shared student data.

Anonymous wrote:Article has former TJ principal as one of the advisors of the China schools- would be interesting to know how much $ they got.

Anonymous wrote:
OP.

Please.

Believe me.

There are thousands and thousands of extremely rigorous STEM-heavy school all over Asia, in China, Taiwan, Singapore, S. Korea, Japan, etc. Their students run rings around our students.

China probably bought this out of curiosity, to find out what a highly-reputed STEM high school in the US was doing. And maybe they'll chuckle a bit and pass it around to friends for a laugh.

If you've been living under a rock for a generation, and you somehow still think the US is in any way competitive in the global K-12 education market...

... you have to wake up to the dire state of US education today. TJ may be among the best STEM schools we have, but it's certainly not special in Asia.

The US has world-class graduate institutions, that are extremely well-funded compared to those in other countries. This is why you see a brain drain from other countries to the US at the graduate level. Not really before that, except for some well-heeled families who believe that sending their kids to high school or undergrad here will get them an easier spot at Harvard Medical School.

- Asian.

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has had a partnership with the Chinese govt for years. They used to fly FCPS AAP principals over there to instruct China on how to build gifted programs like our AAP program, a little over a decade ago.

Was this part of it?