Private School Association Doubles Down on Controversial Programs Despite Nationwide Pushback

Clear Facts

• The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) continues hosting DEI events despite lawsuits and legislation against racial preferences in education
• NAIS apologized in 2024 after speakers at a DEI event characterized Israel’s war in Gaza as genocide and called Israel’s establishment a racist project
• Nearly two dozen states have adopted legislation prohibiting DEI programs, while the Department of Education investigates racial discrimination in schools nationwide

While parents and lawmakers across America work to eliminate racial preferences in education, a powerful association of elite private schools is quietly maintaining controversial programs that critics say amount to discrimination dressed up in progressive language.

The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) continues to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives even as public opinion shifts and legal challenges mount. Later this month, on April 29, NAIS will host a “meetup” for DEI staff working at member institutions — a clear signal the organization isn’t backing down.

NAIS serves as a membership organization for private schools, holding conferences and posting job openings for member institutions. The group positions itself as a provider of best practices for elite education.

But some of those practices have drawn sharp criticism. Member schools openly advertise race-based affinity groups on their websites, and NAIS actively recruits diversity staff through its job bank — programs that critics argue violate the spirit of equal treatment under the law.

The association’s commitment to these programs has led to serious problems. In 2024, NAIS issued an apology when speakers at one of its DEI events made inflammatory statements about Israel.

“The pervasiveness of this rhetoric and the absence of any alternate perspectives created an atmosphere that was hostile for many Jewish students and faculty members in attendance,” wrote the American Jewish Committee and Prizmah, an organization for Jewish day schools, in a letter to NAIS.

Following the controversy, NAIS canceled its “People of Color Conference” in 2025. But the move appears more cosmetic than substantive.

The association simply renamed the gathering “Gather: A Convening for Renewal and Growth, Belonging, and Impact.” NAIS specifically describes the event as a reinvention of its People of Color meeting, featuring more “affinity group work” and sessions on “inclusion and belonging” — the new branding for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

This approach puts NAIS at odds with federal enforcement actions. The U.S. Department of Education has been actively investigating racial discrimination in K-12 schools across the country.

In February, the agency announced an investigation into Portland public schools for operating a racially segregated academic program. The department has opened similar cases throughout the past year and canceled approximately $600 million in grants to schools for teacher training programs that contained racial preferences.

State legislatures are moving decisively as well. Arkansas, Ohio, and Kentucky adopted prohibitions on DEI programs in 2025, joining earlier efforts in Florida, Idaho, and Texas.

Nearly two dozen states now have legislation restricting these controversial programs. The pattern is clear: Americans want education based on merit and equal treatment, not racial categorization.

The stakes extend beyond individual schools. NAIS member institutions prepare students for elite universities — the same institutions where faculty and staff have been among the worst violators of civil rights laws, allowing antisemitism to flourish on campus.

DEI offices at schools like Harvard and Columbia have failed to stop discriminatory activity. Last month, the Education Department opened yet another investigation into Harvard for racial discrimination.

While independent schools operate as private institutions, that status doesn’t exempt them from civil rights laws or excuse antisemitism. Racial discrimination deserves scrutiny whether it occurs in public schools, universities, or private academies.

The question now is whether these elite institutions will respond to the clear message being sent by courts, legislatures, and American families — or whether they’ll continue down a path that threatens the principles of equal treatment and merit-based achievement that have long defined American education.

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