SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD VISION, VALUES, BELIEFS, GOALS and MISSION

Vision

Every student—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic background—will graduate and be fully prepared to lead a successful life.

Values

• Academic effectiveness
• Accountability
• Equity
• Inclusivity
• Justice
• Sustainability

Beliefs

• Public education is a foundation of democracy and provides the tools to create a more egalitarian and just society.
• All children and youth have a right to a high-quality, comprehensive public education.
• Public education must help all children and youth reach their highest potential, feel successful, and become wise, thoughtful, and caring adults.
• We model what students learn—by what we say, what we do, how we treat each other, and how we organize and run our schools.
• Children and youth learn most effectively when teaching and curriculum are relevant to their own backgrounds, interests, and learning styles.
• Students thrive in an environment that offers a variety of learning opportunities.
• To close the achievement gap1, we must recognize the impacts of institutionalized racism2 on student success and question any excuses for not making necessary changes.
• Students want and need positive relationships with adults, based on mutual respect and high expectations for success, and schools must provide opportunities for those relationships to flourish.
• To learn effectively, students need their basic needs met—food, shelter, clothing, personal safety and health, freedom from harassment, and respect for their individuality and ethnic background.
• A school system works best when all participants are candid, open, and accountable.
• All students can learn. Poor academic performance reflects the quality of leadership and the way in which adults are working together, not the quality of the students.
• Schools work better when they are open to and make good use of community resources. Urgency is a critical element in true transformation.
• Fully funding public education is a basic responsibility of our society.

Goals

• Improve the effectiveness and relevance of instructional and support services for all students.
• Eliminate the achievement gap.
• Eliminate all systemic barriers to student achievement.
• Build leadership capacity for accountability, inclusivity, and effectiveness.
• Manage resources and set priorities using principles of equity and sustainability.

MISSION

To provide every student with effective, high quality teaching and learning experiences, relevant curriculum and support services, in a safe and healthy environment.

¹Achievement Gap (disproportionality) – The disproportionate under representation of non-white students among those who are meeting academic standards, which is reflected statistically as a “gap” between white and non-white student outcomes in comparative achievement data.

²Institutionalized racism - An indirect and largely invisible process that operates automatically and results in less access to services and opportunities of a society based on race. It is a term encompassing the, now often unconscious, barriers built into education, selection, promotion and service delivery systems that serve to disadvantage members of non-white groups in the United States.