Lack of Moral Courage Reaches Crisis Proportions

It is disheartening to see so many US independent schools, of varying sizes and histories, grappling with existential crises as we enter 2023. These crises were not necessarily born during the Covid era; although some were, in many cases, their roots can be found 20 years ago, in the lead-up to the Great Recession. The signs were there: a need to 'blend and extend' loans past their original amortization schedules (e.g., blending in other debt and extending a 10-year schedule to 30 years); write-offs of pledge payments that were never honored; reductions in enrollment; increased discounting of seats; fewer donors with the capacity to make large gifts (which masked underlying business model problems). The list goes on.