While Bellevue is less than 3 percent African American, it is one of the most diverse school districts in Washington: 42 percent of students are Asian American, 37 percent are white, and 12 percent are Latino. “But the district is not accountable for addressing the gaps that exist.” “The district talks a great game about equity and serving all students,” says Terry Jess, who teaches social studies at Bellevue High School and is the parent of an eighth grader and a high school junior in Bellevue schools. She notes that racial equity is one of the top three priorities highlighted by district leadership, but the district currently has no equity policy. That vision has motivated Smith to become active in a community-wide effort to pass an equity policy in the Bellevue School District. “My hope for my daughters,” she says, “is that at some point they see themselves represented in the teaching staff, in the curriculum, and in the reading assignments.” Read More She also has two daughters, ages 8 and 4. By the time he graduated from high school, he had never had an African American teacher in any of his classes. “But there are still a lot of ongoing racial issues and micro-aggression.” “I think people have this false sense of security in the Pacific Northwest because it’s supposed to be this more progressive area,” says Smith. Gjanje Smith says the first time her son was called the N-word was when he was a middle school student in the Bellevue School District, just east of Seattle.Īfter moving to Bellevue in 2010 from just outside Boston - with its long history of racial conflict in schools, including protests and riots following court-ordered desegregation and busing in the mid-1970s – Smith says she was shocked. Read MoreĮducators, Parents, Students Mobilize in Support of District Equity Policy in WA State Terry now has more than 80 short videos on his YouTube channel, anchored around a 10-part series co-hosted by the pair titled “Primer for anti-racist white educators.” Read the full blog post about their video project. Inspired by their own experiences working with students trying to reconcile their own identities with the realities of the world around them, as well as conversations they had at the 2017 NEA Conference on Racial and Social Justice, Terry and Luke created a series of YouTube videos they hoped could provide other white educators with ideas, insights and tools to better engage in racial equity work in their own schools and communities. On the other hand, Terry and Luke feel they do have a lot to offer other white educators who are committed to racial equity in education, but may not know where to begin. They feel they have little to add to conversations about race with students and colleagues of color that those students and colleagues don’t already know themselves, based upon their own experiences in the classroom, and, more broadly, living in the United States. Luke Michener and Terry Jess are both white, male educators who teach at Bellevue High School in Washington state. NEA activists launch series of video “primers” for anti-racist white educators ![]() ![]() Therefore, we demand justice and equity for Black lives in all places and in all forms - in our judicial, education, housing, health and economic systems. We mourn with you, we stand with you and we organize with you to dismantle all acts of discrimination and racism. ![]() To our Black students, colleagues, parents and families: You matter, your trauma matters, your voice matters, your protest matters, your dreams matter. We must hold decision makers accountable to the people by reinvesting in policies and systems to achieve healthy and strong schools and communities. But far too many have been overlooked, neglected and forgotten by those in power who choose to bail out greedy corporations and line the pockets of privatizers. As an organization representing public school educators across the country, the National Education Association recognizes the need to end institutionally racist systems and policies that have governed our society for too long and kept Black people from full participation in American life.įor many Black students and families, our public schools are the heart of our communities.
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