In the context of the increasing forced migration to Germany in the wake of the Syrian war, numerous initiatives for, by and with ‘refugees’ have emerged, many of which are currently collaborating with schools. Based on qualitative interviews, this article deals with perspectives of civil society initiatives on the discrimination of students with a so-called refugee/migration background and on related school development processes. The article identifies and analyses various fields of tension in which cooperation with schools takes place, which concern administrative funding logics, discourses about and school routines in dealing with diversity and difference in the (post-)migration society. Thereby, potentials and challenges for developing a sustainable response to (racist) discrimination in and through school collaborations become apparent, as does the importance of an understanding of pedagogical competence that is sensitive to discrimination as the ability to deal with contradictory pedagogical demands.