In 2023, the Alliance celebrated five years of addressing gaps in basic needs for students with the Right Now Needs Fund, graduated the Seattle Teacher Residency’s 10th cohort of future educators, and celebrated the completion of raising $3.7M for SPS’ Office of African American Male Achievement with a newly released progress report.
The Alliance for Education, the local education fund for the Seattle Public School district, is pleased to release its annual report, highlighting the accomplishments and impact made in the last year. Since 1995, the Alliance for Education has stewarded philanthropic funding and innovative programming on behalf of Seattle Public Schools students and educators.
Serving as a bridge between the community and the district, the Alliance catalyzes understanding, trust, partnership, investment and innovation with the vision of ensuring all students in Seattle Public Schools experience a sense of belonging, receive an excellent and equitable education, and reach their fullest potential.
Seattle Public Schools is the largest district in Washington with an enrollment of 49, 226 students and 6,486 school-based staff. The district continually ranks high when compared nationally to urban, public districts and boasts over 700 national board certified educators and more than half of enrolled students identifying as Black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC).
“Seattle Public Schools is a thriving district that is centered on student success and initiatives that increase equity for students furthest from educational justice. Our advancement in equity leads the way, ahead of nearly every other urban school district from coast to coast,” says Dr. Brent Jones, Superintendent at Seattle Public Schools. “The Alliance is a proven, essential partner as we garner community buy-in for the successes of our district.”
A few key highlights from the impact of Alliance programs and investments in 2023 include:
- Seattle Public Schools’ Office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA) compiled and released a report, Seeding Success, that tells the story of the Office of AAMA and the targeted universalism approach of centering Black boys and teens when advancing educational justice. The Seeding Success report includes detailed data and metrics that highlight student success outcomes. The Alliance completed a fundraising campaign that generated $3.7M since 2019 to create and sustain the Office of AAMA.
- The Seattle Teacher Residency (STR) graduated its 10th cohort, totaling 265 newly minted educators since 2013. Over 80% of those educators continue to teach through their fifth year in the classroom, where an average of 5,000 students learn daily with STR educators. Of 265 graduates in the past 10 years, on average, 60% of graduates identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC).
- The Right Now Needs Fund, which began in 2018, provided 14,333 instances of student support across all 104 Seattle Public School buildings in 2023, up by 1,500 instances of supports from the prior year 2022. Since the fund began, the Alliance has distributed $4.9M to students and families to fulfill basic needs such as clothing, meals and shelter that are not otherwise funded in a school budget.
“Seattle schools have excellent qualities – and educational experiences for students are not yet truly equitable. We persist in our work aware that only by achieving racial equity and educational justice can we truly call our public school system excellent.” said Lisa Chick, President at Alliance for Education. “It’s my hope that this report amplifies what’s possible when we work in collaboration on behalf of Seattle students, and inspires new vision about what we can accomplish together going forward.”
About the Alliance for Education
The Alliance for Education is an independent, local education fund that has worked in partnership with Seattle Public Schools since 1995 to address crucial challenges facing Seattle students, families and educators. Our mission is to support excellence in education by advancing educational justice and racial equity for students in Seattle Public Schools. Our work is collaborative as we seek to address systemic inequities in public schools and create a more equitable and just education system that allows all Seattle students to thrive.