The Trump administration has made it clear that higher education will be under the microscope for “exploding costs and indoctrination.” The key focus will be on the accreditation system, as explained in this video:
This long overdue attention is certainly unwanted by schools, yet it will hopefully lead to positive change. Shouldn’t the same scrutiny be applied to the K-12 independent schools that feed the system but have questionable quality control and oversight? Should K-12 independent schools be worried about losing their independence?
As we have asserted since founding Parents Unite, colleges are not alone in indoctrinating students, lowering standards, and inflating grades.
In fact, under the influence of NAIS and their accreditors, many K-12 independent schools have come to look like the colleges that have gone astray.
As just one example, below is the list of top endowments in K-12. Most schools draw approximately 4% from their endowment to supplement their annual budget.
Endowments act as massive tax-free “slush funds.” Consider them in the context of the extraordinarily high tuition costs that continue to rise yearly—usually above inflation (at least before Biden’s inflation!). While some schools are more generous with their financial aid, most schools need 80% of families to pay full price and then supplement shortfalls with annual giving.
Subsidized by their massive endowments and assisted by their non-profit status, elite schools maintain their reputations through money and influence. Generous donors further enable schools to succumb to the pressure to continuously outdo one another, leading them to constantly pursue the next shiny new thing. These business models are seemingly unsustainable.
Endowments can provide cover for bad governance. The influential school trustees, many of whom also sit on boards of other important institutions in higher education and in culture, civic, and corporate domains, contribute to the school culture of prestige and are not incentivized to go against groupthink. This dynamic has allowed these institutions to operate with limited accountability to the families and students who trust schools to act in their children’s best interests. Independent school enrollment contracts require parents to effectively sign away their parental rights, which only furthers the lack of accountability.
Is any school charting a different course? Here is a noteworthy and novel approach:
The Birch Wathen Lenox School, a K-12 independent, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City, forged a singular mission and is committed to a rigorous, traditional academic program. The school, guided by a highly competent head of school, appears to do what it says.
“In a climate where DEI has become polarized and politicized, an alternative model exists that genuinely privileges inclusion, intellectual freedom, and respect for all.”
How is the market responding?
Bill Kuhn shares, "Parents have responded, often with relief, to our unorthodox orthodoxy — applications are up 250% since 2023. ‘We were drawn to your enthusiasm for constructive dialogue, allowing students to speak their minds freely.’”
The purpose of independent schools should be to build a strong enough foundation in their students so that it doesn’t matter which college they attend. In fact, a recent Wall Street Journal article by Callum Borchers explains how “Elite university pedigrees can work against job seekers in some corners of the corporate world.” We hope that K-12 independent schools on the same perilous path as higher ed will use this moment as a wake-up call to return to providing an exceptional education for all their students.
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