Zuckerberg Closes Schools for Minority Communities amid Trump's Tightened Discrimination and Equity Policies
Rewritten Article:
Here's a lowdown on the shuttering of The Primary School, a tuition-free institution backed by the Almighty Dollars of Mark Zuckerberg and his partner, Priscilla Chan. Opened in 2016 with the mission to aid low-income families and communities of color, the school seemed destined to tackle obstacles in education, healthcare, and social services. However, it's closing its doors next year, supposedly due to lack of funds - a puzzle considering the billionaire backing.
For a decade, The Primary School has been a beacon in East Palo Alto, navigating the treacherous waters of poverty-stricken areas where well-funded education options are scarce. The school's website openly acknowledged the systemic racism that disproportionately affects communities of color, vowing to extend resources to underserved areas.
Fast forward to today, and it smells a bit like DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) to the current political climate. Zuckerberg, a known Trump-hanger-on, scrapped Meta's DEI programs earlier this year, and the same sweep hit the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which originally funded The Primary School. The philanthropic arm scrubbed any mention of inclusivity or economic fairness from its web, according to The Guardian, and shuttered its DEI team. This move follows Trump's crackdown on DEI in various programs, including attempts to withhold federal funds from schools that dared to promote inclusivity.
Closing the school might just be Zuckerberg aligning his money's path with his current interests. But for the families who relied on it for more than just education, the decision is a heart-wrenching blow. The school offered wraparound services that extended beyond the classroom, providing access to essential healthcare and services that many families wouldn't have managed otherwise.
Take Veronica Van Leeuwaarde, a mom of two Primary School alums, who told the SF Standard that school employees helped her secure an appointment at Kaiser Permanente to discuss her son's learning difficulties, eventually leading to an ADHD diagnosis. This diagnosis and treatment would have been nearly impossible for her to navigate alone. "Just talking about it makes me want to cry, because it's impacted my family so much," she shared with the Standard.
The school will offer families between $1,000 to $10,000 to help transition their kids to another school, as reported by the SF Chronicle. However, this sum barely covers the average $35,000 tuition cost for private elementary schools in Palo Alto, and $16,500 per year across California, asper The Private School Review.
As for the claims of lack of funding, the Chronicle did point out that The Primary School faced a significant drop in contributions, from $8 million in 2022 to $3.7 million in 2023. Considering that Zuckerberg and Chan together boast a net worth of nearly $200 billion and have promised to give away 99% of their wealth, it seems the school's closure could've been avoided with a mere drop in the bucket.
- Despite the shuttering of The Primary School next year, questions persist about its financial situation, as the school's closure appears puzzling given its billionaire backers, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan.
- The future of technology and education-and-self-development initiatives may be impacted by recent changes within the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which has eliminated its DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs and removed references to inclusivity and economic fairness from its website.
- As politicians continue to debate the role of DEI in various sectors, including education, the closing of The Primary School raises concerns about the potential erosion of general-news and tech industry commitments to underprivileged communities in the future.
