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Friday, November 16, 2012

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Educational and Racial Equity

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Educational and Racial Equity:


Educational and Racial Equity

When the Board adopted policy 0030, Ensuring Educational and Racial Equity, there was a bit of a stir because, at one point, the word "Racial" had been removed from the policy title. I guess some folks were concerned that if there was no reference to race in the title of the policy, there would be no focus on race in the implementation of the policy. The content of the policy was not in question, just the title.

The policy language does not put special emphasis on race. It makes reference to the opportunity gap, which is an economic disparity, and it lists a number of different types of equity the policy should protect:
"The concept of educational equity goes beyond formal equality—where all students are treated the same—to fostering a barrier-free environment where all students, regardless of their race, class or other personal characteristics such as creed, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, economic status, gender, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, pregnancy