In light of the recent executive orders, the education landscape is changing quickly. How might your schools be thinking about their future, and what role is NAIS playing? Instead of “co-creating the future of education,” NAIS is clinging to old ideas and trying to justify their value to schools. They even provide a “Justification Letter to Heads of School” template for people to persuade school supervisors and heads of school to send them to the upcoming NAIS Thrive boondoggle.
NAIS is also kicking off a long-range strategic planning process and is looking for feedback from its member schools. You can read all about it here.
According to NAIS, “Our goal in embarking on this process is to ensure that we are meeting evolving member needs. It will involve a thorough review of all our offerings, including the ways we support our members’ inclusion and belonging goals, which, as you know, is key to fulfilling our mission.”
Parents, this is your chance to leverage the recent executive orders and share your thoughts about the opportunities for your schools.
How will schools know what feedback to provide NAIS unless they hear from their customers?
Parents are wondering how some of the recent executive orders (EOs) will impact their independent schools and the schools to which their children matriculate. These are some that schools should be paying attention to.
Many independent school heads assert that their school is not subject to the EOs because it does not receive federal funding. However, the new federal administration has mentioned challenging the 501(c)(3) status and endowments of higher ed institutions, which could trickle down to K-12 independent schools. In the meantime, there are two possible ways to encourage schools to pay attention to the executive orders and educate, not indoctrinate, their students.
While most independent schools do not receive federal funding, many schools did accept PPP money during COVID-19. At least one federal court has ruled that taking PPP money subjects private schools to Title IX.
There is a statute that ensures “truth in advertising.“ Has your school strayed from its mission? Is your school pushing an agenda that parents didn’t sign up for? Is your school website being scrubbed of DEI while the programmatic elements still go on in the classrooms? Some laws might protect against this kind of deception.
For example, in Massachusetts, General Laws Chapter 93A, commonly known as the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, is a robust statute prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices in trade or commerce. It provides consumers and businesses with a private right of action, the ability to recover double or triple damages in cases of willful or knowing violations, and attorney’s fees under certain conditions.
Many states across the U.S. have enacted similar consumer protection laws, often modeled after the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices.
(Grok)
In a recent newsletter, we suggested how NAIS could evolve to be a force for good. It seems like a good time to consider whether NAIS will help itself and its member schools remain relevant and prepare students for the real world. Parents should ask their schools if NAIS membership is worth the cost.
The recent PoCC debacle motivated many parents to speak out against NAIS. Now is an opportunity to weigh in on what could replace the negative and divisive content that NAIS has been promoting for decades. Parents, you can take action by writing notes to your head of school and trustees suggesting ways NAIS could be a value add, instead of a social justice organization.
Thanks for reading Parents Unite! Subscribe to our Substack for free to receive new posts and support our work.