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The recent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor are grim reminders of the violence against Black lives and persistent racial injustice in America. Our education system contributes to this injustice through a history of inequitable policies and institutional racism that results in disproportionality in student discipline and student outcomes by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic condition.
Education must be part of the solution. Black students live every day in a school system where they are threatened and do not feel valued. Our schools must actively support and create a space for our students of color to feel seen and heard each day. As a state, we must recognize our nation’s collective trauma of racism and identify and eliminate the systems that perpetuate it. As the State Board of the Education, we are compelled to take part in creating new systems and structures that support equity for all those who live, learn, and work in our state. The State Board of Education is making the commitment to stand up and call out policies and practices that do not center the lives and mental health of our Black students and all students of color. The Washington State Board of Education members and staff are engaged in the ongoing work that includes recognizing our privilege, and continually reviewing our biases, beliefs, and actions. We ask each of you to hold us accountable.
Peter Maier, Chair, State Board of Education
Randy Spaulding, Executive Director, State Board of Education