A Day of Learning and Advocacy Training

by Virginia Eader, School's Out Washington MSW Student Intern

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the League of Education Voters Education Advocacy Training on Saturday. It was exciting to see such a great turnout of educators, non-profit leaders, parents, and community members invested in making change in our public education system. I was very encouraged by the overall alignment of the presentations/discussions with the work SOWA is doing around addressing the achievement gap in Washington by looking at racial equity.

 

I’d like to highlight a few of the workshops I attended.

 

The first workshop was on School Pushout, which included a presentation on the School-to-Prison pipeline- giving a brief history lesson on the rise of zero tolerance policies, increased school discipline/out of school suspension rates, and the harsh affects these have on students. We ended with a discussion on what some schools and communities are doing to change things.

 

In another workshop I heard from a member of Network for Excellence in Washington Schools (NEWS) about the details of the McCleary case and the recent Supreme Court finding that Washington state isn’t meeting their constitutional obligation to amply fund public education. 

 

I also had the opportunity to learn about the work the Lincoln Center in Tacoma is doing to close the achievement gap through Expanded Learning Opportunities, as well as the amazing work of Tukwila Schools in supporting immigrant and refugee students through parent engagement and a strong community support network.

 

Lastly, I attended an information session on Charter Schools. It was interesting to hear thoughts from both sides of the table. There will be a public forum in Seattle on January 17, 2012 to continue the conversation.

 

You can access the Education Advocacy presentation handouts from some of the workshops at the League of Education Voters website and sign up to receive email updates and action alerts.