Elite NYC school suffering 'race meltdown' over 'extreme' anti-racist demands: report

The Dalton School, an elite school in New York City, is reportedly experiencing a "race meltdown" over anti-racist demands by teachers that some are calling "extreme" and "insane."

The Dalton School is an elite K-12 preparatory school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that has an exorbitant tuition of $54,180, but also prides itself on being extremely progressive. Jim Best, the head of the school, declared that he has "committed Dalton to becoming a visibly, vocally, structurally anti-racist institution."

The school's website has a "Commitment to Anti-Racism" page, where it outlines it's "anti-racism vision." The objectives include: "All Dalton students will have a deep historical understanding of racial and structural inequities in the U.S., and particularly the history of anti-black racism."

Despite the prep school already committed to anti-racism, the teachers at the Dalton School are allegedly demanding the institution be even more committed to anti-racism. The New York Post reported on the eight-page "anti-racist manifesto signed by dozens of faculty members with a sweeping list of demands."

The purported demands, some based on critical race theory, include:

• Hiring 12 full-time diversity officers, and multiple psychologists to support students "coping with race-based traumatic stress."
• Assigning a staffer dedicated to black students who have "complaints or face disciplinary action," and a full-time advocate to help black kids "navigate a predominantly white institution."
• Paying the student debt of black staffers upon hiring them.
• Requiring courses that focus on "Black liberation" and "challenges to white supremacy."
• Compensating any student of color who appears in Dalton promotional material.
• Abolishing high-level academic courses by 2023 if the performance of black students is not on par with non-blacks.
• Requiring "anti-racism" statements from all staffers.
• Overhauling the entire curriculum, reading lists and student plays to reflect diversity and social justice themes.
• Divesting from companies that "criminalize or dehumanize" black people, including private prisons and tech firms that manufacture police equipment or weapons.
• Donating 50 percent of all fundraising dollars to NYC public schools if Dalton is not representative of the city in terms of gender, race, socioeconomic background, and immigration status by 2025.

Colin Wright, managing editor Quillette, posted some of the demands on Twitter. He wrote, "The Dalton School in Manhattan is having a race meltdown. Teachers are holding the school for ransom with demands, but they're so extreme the school will crumble if they give in. But they'll crumble if they don't, too!"

Naked Dollar writer Scott Johnston, who first revealed the alleged manifesto, said, "Dalton's teachers are refusing to come back" until the demands are met.

The Post spoke to parents of children who attend the elite school.

"My ancestors experienced white supremacy by being slaughtered," a Jewish parent reportedly said. "The idea that being white automatically means you are privileged or a white supremacist is ridiculous. My child comes from people who had to fight for everything they got. It's just about skin color now."

Earlier this year, the pricey school received pushback from parents who were unsatisfied with the school's remote education during the coronavirus pandemic. The Dalton School went to all-digital instruction until at least mid-year. Approximately 70 parents signed a petition to open the school, which stated, "Zoom-school is not Dalton."

"We are, in short, frustrated and confused and better hope to understand the school's thought processes behind the virtual model it has adopted," a letter from parents to the school reads, according to Bloomberg. "Please tell us what are the criteria for re-opening fully in person. Covid-19 is not going away and waiting for that to happen is misguided."

The Dalton School is known for its famous alumni such as Anderson Cooper, Christian Slater, and Claire Danes. The school is also where Jeffrey Epstein was hired as a teacher by former headmaster Donald Barr, father of former United States Attorney General William Barr.

In November, journalist Megyn Kelly announced that she had pulled her two sons from a "woke, far-left" elite NYC prep school that planned to implement an extreme racial social justice agenda.

"It's so out of control on so many levels, and after years of resisting it, we're going to leave the city," she said on "The Megyn Kelly Show." "We pulled our boys from their school, and our daughter is going to be leaving hers soon, too. The schools have always been far left, which doesn't align with my own ideology, but I didn't really care. Most of my friends are liberals; it's fine. I come from Democrats as a family."