SOUTHEAST SEATTLE EDUCATION COALITION
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Mission Statement
SESEC's mission is to convene and resource communities of color to advocate for an equitable education system.
About This Cause
“For at least seven decades, Seattle Public Schools has pledged to eliminate the gaps in achievement between students of color and their white peers. But even as district leaders swear their latest efforts are more than just another round of rhetoric, the gaps continue to grow.“ (Racial equity in Seattle schools has a long, frustrating history — and it’s getting worse; Seattle Times, 1/12/18) In 2012, SE Seattle community leaders, faced with the recognition of ongoing academic failure by their children and schools, united to found SESEC. The objective was to begin advocating for educational equity for children of color. Our leaders felt that it is no longer acceptable for Seattle Public Schools to ignore the education needs of SE Seattle’s families while continually bending to the requests of other communities throughout Seattle. SESEC is hyper focused on serving SE Seattle, as defined by the borders of I-90 on the north, I-5 on the west, Lake Washington on the east and the Seattle city border on the south. This region of Seattle is commonly identified as Seattle’s Rainier Valley and Beacon Hill communities. Demographically, SE Seattle is one of the most economically and culturally diverse communities in Seattle. Based on American Community Survey (ACS), 2021, SE Seattle has a population of 104,344 residents. Of these residents, 61% are considered non-white. Specifically: • Black or African American population is 19% • American Indian and Alaska Native population is 1% • Asian population is 27% • Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander is .5% • Hispanic or Latino population is 10%. Median income in SE Seattle ranges from $74,985 to $94,790, with seven to nearly sixteen (7%-15.5%) percent of SE Seattle families, according to the ACS, 2021, living below the Federal Poverty Level. SE Seattle families living with an income of $35,000 or less is 14% of total families in SE Seattle. Nearly 32% of the SE Seattle population are born outside of the U.S. With a large immigrant/refugee community, 35% of SE Seattle residents speak a language other than English. There are 40,415 households in SE Seattle, with 5% without a computer and 10% without broadband internet subscriptions. SE Seattle has 42,783 housing units with 22,126 housing units occupied by owners. SE Seattle and its schools also reflect substantial risk factors for poor academic performance as measured by low test scores and graduation rates. These risk factors include 49% of Seattle’s Title 1 (high poverty) schools are in SE Seattle; notably, 82% of SE Seattle schools (i.e., the overwhelming majority) are Title I schools (this statistic is not found in any other region of Seattle). Also, while SE Seattle schools make up only 21% of all schools in SPS, they, in aggregate, represent 55% of schools with Free and Reduced Lunch rates. Schools in SE Seattle also have English Language Learner (ELL) rates of up to 43.3%, whereas the district average is 13.8%. The coalition -- made up of representatives from community organizations, education, parent/guardian groups, and other concerned organizations -- works collaboratively to achieve educational equity and to bring additional resources to SE Seattle. Our focus is on early and K-12 learning, building relationships, changing school culture to advance the needs of students of color, and creating a stronger advocacy focus to benefit students of color. But SESEC, while working to represent the interests of communities of color from SE Seattle, is unable to do this alone. It takes entire communities to speak out and advocate for changes addressing racialized achievement and opportunity gaps. Yet SE Seattle, like most communities of color, is comprised of underrepresented communities with stories about the need for changes but they lack access and expertise to effectively advocate for those changes. Without broad community advocacy, the system perpetuates itself when too many underrepresented communities of color do not have access to the same educational policy development and systems are not prepared to change or listen to people of color. SESEC’s programs strive to elevate, empower and center community voices, particularly voices of color. Through our programs community leaders and parents/guardians of color gain a greater understanding of educational policy development, education finance and systemic change. Our programs also develop stronger community voices to be effective advocates with a greater understanding of how to affect systemic changes within Seattle Public Schools. SESEC works to bring together community leaders, parents/guardians, practitioners, and scholars representing a wide range of racial and experiential constructs. Collaboratively, SESEC's coalition centers around bringing communities, families, and educational systems together to co-design transformative possibilities toward community-defined well-being and educational justice and building and enacting generative solidarities within and across communities. SESEC is helping to revitalize and stabilize SE Seattle communities by building stronger, more dynamic schools that are attractive to low- to moderate-income residents who are opting to stay in SE Seattle instead of relocating to other areas in King County. • Biennially, our Family Engagement Survey Project brings parents, educators, and community leaders together to co-design a community survey. The survey is translated into multiple languages and administered within the respective communities by engage parents and community leaders. The results help schools implement culturally appropriate ways to communicate with parents of color and to engage them in their children’s school and education. • SESEC partnered with OneAmerica to promote the Home Language Campaign that emphasized the importance of maintaining the languages of immigrant and refugee parents in their homes. Collaborations among schools, community groups, parents and PTSAs were developed in response to the Home Language Campaign. SESEC hosts regular meetings and dialogues among education and community leaders that are instrumental in closing the information, accessibility and understanding gaps; these meetings help develop stronger and more engaged LMI communities. SESEC’s programs help strengthen, empower and engage community voices, and develop leadership skills among community members, parents/guardians, and students: • SESEC’s monthly coalition meetings provide a forum for community members, parents/guardians and education allies to develop collaborative relationships, learn about current policy, program and funding issues at Seattle Public Schools, and to dialogue with Seattle Public Schools administrators on these issues. • As a member of the National SEED Project, our Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED) Project hosts cohorts of community leaders in the examination of root cause of “isms” to better understand equity in their workplaces and classrooms. • Advocacy and Policy Cohorts (APC) immerses community leaders and parents/guardians in discussions that demystify educational policies, prepares them to be more effective advocates and develops leadership skills to heighten participation in school councils and other civic forums. • Data Cohorts Project partners with community-based organizations in conducting workshops on data analysis, data literacy, and using data in policy advocacy. • The Youth Participatory Grantmaking Project engages high school youth in a co-design effort for youth-led community grant making. Participant research and select their priorities for giving, design a Request for Proposals, accept and review applications, and award grants to community non-profits. • SESEC’s Family Navigators Project is a new, facilitated learning and mutual support space for families of color with rising 6th grade scholars in Southeast Seattle public middle schools. The Project supports the Developmental ECI focus area, as it aims to empower and enable families to be confident, active, knowledgeable, and informed stakeholders in the transformation of their schools and neighborhoods. • SESEC is the fiscal sponsor for the Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance which is a collaboration of SE Seattle schools collectively working on equitable fundraising, particularly for Title I schools. Through our programs, SESEC demonstrates success in building deeper understanding of people's belief systems, strengthening voices for effective advocacy and participation, and accessing and analyzing data for policy change. We believe that the trust and relationships SESEC has developed by working collaboratively with SE Seattle schools, parents/guardians and community leaders has positioned SESEC to be instrumental in helping shape families as leaders and navigators within their schools and their communities to affect education equity and justice.