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Friday, February 26, 2016

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Finding Teachers of Color: What the Gates Foundation Thinks

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Finding Teachers of Color: What the Gates Foundation Thinks:

Finding Teachers of Color: What the Gates Foundation Thinks


Public disclosure requests can sometimes yield the oddest things (seemingly not related to your request, no matter how narrowly you tailor it.)  Such is the case with my public disclosure request from OSPI around charter schools. 

One e-mail in one batch was from sent in late Nov to various people in education from several districts including SPS about a meeting to discuss how to get attract more people of color to  teaching.  The e-mail was from the Gates Foundation's Edie Harding, Senior Program Officer, Pacific NW Initiative about their "DEW" work (Diversify the Educator Workforce.) 

The one SPS invitee was Karen Harris who is an assistant principal at Beacon Hill Elementary.  (Ms Harris appears to have worked for the Martinez Foundation whose principal mission is to support teachers of color.  The Martinez Foundation has been moved to the Technology Access Foundation.)  I did ask the district if they knew about this effort but no one has answered back.

From the e-mail:

Because we just want to DEW it now!


Unfortunately, the documents attached to the e-mail did not come to me but I made a request and OSPI sent them. 

There were four documents;
- General Questions - asking for reactions from participants on Gates' "theory of change" in the presentation

- graphic - Washington State Diversifying the Educator Workforce Theory of Change with final goal:
By 2030 30 % of teachers are teachers of color who stay for more than five 
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Finding Teachers of Color: What the Gates Foundation Thinks: