Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s school is the latest billionaire education experiment to collapse
The Primary School, an educational facility started by Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, has shut its doors, becoming the latest in a series of failed attempts by billionaires and the ultra-wealthy to fix the education system. The school, which closed in June, opened in 2016 as a tuition-free private school designed to go beyond education by providing services such as…
The Primary School, an educational venture founded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, has closed its doors, marking the latest in a series of failed initiatives by the ultra-wealthy to address educational issues. Launched in 2016, the tuition-free private school aimed to offer more than academics, providing services like free dental checkups and wellness coaching for parents.
Approximately 540 children attended the institution throughout its operational years. However, the school's closure came after the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the nonprofit established by the couple, decided to cease funding it after the 2025-2026 academic year. The organization announced plans to invest $50 million in East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and the East Bay over the next five years to aid families in navigating the transition.
This funding will support education savings accounts, early-childhood programs, and family engagement services. Despite Chan's hands-on approach, including regular visits to the campus, reading to kindergartners, and appearing in a curriculum video with Sesame Street's Elmo, the school faced challenges with nontraditional elements.
Teachers were required to sign nondisclosure agreements, and there were issues with principals' turnover and curriculum development, leading to Chan's dissatisfaction with the outcomes. Despite these criticisms, teachers stayed on for the final year as word of the impending closure spread among parents. The Primary School's shutdown occurred amidst the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's evolving mission, moving from social advocacy to scientific philanthropy.
This is not the first time billionaire-backed education projects have failed. In 2019, AltSchool, founded by ex-Googler Max Ventilla and backed by Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and Laurene Powell Jobs, shut down its schools to become a tech company, selling edtech software after burning through capital. The venture operated a series of for-profit micro-schools across the country, with 240 students attending in its last year.
In 2022, Donda Academy, a school founded by Kanye West, abruptly closed following backlash over his antisemitic comments, leading to a lawsuit over various infractions. Meanwhile, billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, continue to launch educational ventures, such as a Montessori-inspired preschool network and a private school at SpaceX headquarters that allows students to opt out of certain topics.
Musk has also expressed plans for a university in Austin, Texas, named Texas Institute of Technology and Science (TITS).
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