Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Background

If your school promotes itself as a “progressive school,” you should believe it and not be surprised that it prioritizes social justice activism and social engineering. For other schools that have recently adopted progressive values, it is important that parents understand what that actually means. In practice, it means that students at those schools are indoctrinated rather than educated. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), a divisive ideology that has become a top priority at most K-12 independent schools, is largely to blame. The DEI industry is antithetical to quality and excellence.

What's happening?

DEI has infiltrated almost every school and is causing more harm than good. Parents, teachers, and students alike are deceived by “nice" sounding programs and curricula. While seemingly positive and harmless, the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion have come to mean something very different than you might expect.

A school’s commitment to DEI is easily discerned from its website. DEI “principles” can be found in the mission, vision, and values of most independent schools. Look to see who is leading DEI, how many people are dedicated to the program, and what the titles are of the DEI staff. Most schools have a dedicated DEI staff member, if not an entire DEI office. Their “programs” include teacher training and professional development, student affinity groups, special speakers, conferences like NAIS POCC, recommended literature, and more. These all come from a singular worldview, which students and teachers are incentivized to adopt.

At many of these schools, teachers and administrators must express fealty to DEI to be hired; merit has become less important, and excellent teachers are overlooked. Those teachers who are DEI activists are then promoted to leadership positions where they influence and drive school decisions and strategies.

Diversity used to mean that different perspectives were valued and enhanced conversations and learning. Now, it’s quite the opposite — it silences those who disagree and dismisses the values of agency, intellectual honesty, and personal responsibility. It divides people into opposing categories: the oppressed and the oppressor. Equity masquerades as an attempt to provide equal access, while in actuality, it lowers standards for all in order to achieve equal outcomes. Inclusion ironically excludes anyone whose point of view might make others feel “uncomfortable.”

Beyond these values, many schools have also adopted the practice of “Belonging.” Creating “belonging” is done by taking extra steps to ensure certain groups feel “special.” This means that institutions change the culture, policies, and environment to accommodate those, usually a small but loud minority, who demand a belonging space.

In an attempt to support students, schools have done just the opposite. They have created a divisive place where censorship and mental health issues continue to grow.

Why should you care?

DEI is embedded in every subject, and schools are no longer a place for “critical thinking.” As long as schools prioritize DEI, viewpoint diversity will not be encouraged. The two are mutually exclusive.

As a result, students are being indoctrinated, and not educated. They are fed a steady diet of negativity, division, and ideological homogeneity intended to dismantle the Western canon. We are seeing the results of this incessant focus on identity and social justice activism. Students are:

Pushed to become conformist, social justice activists are coerced to show fealty to only three causes: race, gender ideology, and climate, with no space for questioning.
Forced to self-censor, stifling any debate or scrutiny of one worldview.
Denied an outlet to question things that defy logic and common sense.
Taught the Platinum Rule — “do unto others as they demand you do…,” rather than the Golden Rule.

Beyond this, DEI has ironically become racist, asserting that black and brown kids can’t get ahead without accommodations from white people. This approach is insulting and strips kids of their agency. Equally problematic is the opportunity cost of prioritizing social justice over academics, as well as the lowering of standards.

Parents, students, and even educators are beginning to recognize that DEI is more about commandeering power than creating solutions. The purpose of school should be to impart knowledge of humanity's collective understanding of wisdom to the next generation, seek objective truth, and teach students how to think. Educators should not teach children to hate themselves, each other, and their country. Western values are under attack.