June 29, 2021

Dear Caitlin,

I appreciated the brief email exchange after reading your Atlantic article, “Private Schools Are Indefensible.” I know you have received an avalanche of responses and read follow-on articles but as a private school alum and retired private school teacher, tech integrator, dorm adviser, et. al., I thought I would write a more formal response. My goal is to add some context to the assertion in your title. I would also like to suggest a potential explanation for the behaviors of the private school parents to whom you refer that I will call The Magic Carpet Fallacy.

Let’s begin with a brief look at the landscape of private schools and the proposition that not all private schools are alike. You know this since you taught and were a parent at Harvard-Westlake. We can agree, I hope, that you are talking about DEI programs at a small group of elite schools known as independent schools. Given your focus, I will ignore the current DEI controversies in state legislatures. Most of your target schools charge steep tuitions and fees and are accessible primarily to affluent families. While there is financial aid available, diversity has been challenged by insufficient…