Zuckerberg Closes Schools for Minority Communities Amidst Trump's Strict Approach towards Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives
In 2016, tech magnate Mark Zuckerberg and his spouse, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, inaugurated The Primary School - a tuition-free educational institution dedicated to aiding low-income families and individuals from racial and ethnic minorities by providing them with access to education, healthcare, and social services. However, after a decade of service in East Palo Alto, the school has announced it will shut its doors permanently in 2026, reportedly due to a lack of funding, which may seem surprising given the founders' vast wealth.
Over the past ten years, The Primary School has served as a beacon of hope for many low-income and Latino families in East Palo Alto by offering comprehensive support services. The school's website acknowledges the challenges faced by these communities due to systemic racism, stating that they are disproportionately impacted by inadequate services and the difficulties of affording them. The school was established with a multidisciplinary team specializing in education, healthcare, and family support to address the needs of underserved communities.
However, the reasons for the school's closure have left many questioning the priorities of Zuckerberg and Chan. This year, Meta (formerly Facebook) and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which originally funded The Primary School, announced the dismantling of their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative removed references to inclusivity and economic fairness from its website and disbanded its DEI and Accessibility team.
Families who relied on The Primary School for more than just education are devastated by the closure. Veronica Van Leeuwaarde, a mother of two students who attended the school, revealed that school employees helped her secure an appointment at Kaiser Permanente to address her son's learning difficulties, eventually leading to his diagnosis with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The diagnosis and subsequent treatment would have been significantly more challenging for her to navigate on her own.
The school will provide families with funds ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to help enroll their children in alternative schools. However, the average cost of private elementary school in Palo Alto is around $35,000, and $16,500 per year across California, making these funds insufficient for most families. Questions have been raised about the lack of funding, considering the collective wealth of the founders is estimated to be over $200 billion.
It remains to be seen how the community will be supported in the wake of the school's closure, as school leadership and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative have pledged a $50 million investment in the area over the next few years. The sudden and unexpected nature of the closure, coupled with a lack of detailed explanation beyond "lack of funding," has fueled distrust among families and the broader public.
- Despite the wealth accumulated by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, their educational initiative, The Primary School, is shutting down in 2026 due to a lack of funding, sparking concerns and questions about their priorities.
- The tech-focused news outlet Gizmodo might explore the paradox of The Primary School's closure, given that the founders' vast resources could potentially support policies or projects in education-and-self-development, tech, or even general-news sectors that address the same issues faced by the school's underserved community.
- As the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative dismantles its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and removes references to economic fairness from its website, critics raise concerns about how this stance impacts underrepresented communities, especially in light of the closure of The Primary School, a beacon for low-income and Latino families in East Palo Alto.
