Our Position on Education

Education Remains a Challenge

One of our priorities is the quality of education of our children.  Too many of our children drop out or are pushed out of school before earning a high school diploma.  Black youth who stay in school have average test scores below those for White and Asian students.  Black students who go on to two-year and four-year colleges and universities are less likely to graduate than those in other ethnic groups. Students of color represent over 40 percent of undergraduate college students enrolled in 2017, yet African American students’ rate of college persistence is more than 11 percentage points lower than their white counterparts and 18 percentage points lower than Asian students, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Current remedies for recruitment and retention issues include university offices of diversity and inclusion, as well as federal TRIO programs. However, more and more programs specifically designed to increase completion rates among students of color are being scaled back and defunded

This is a frightening reality as global competition continues to raise the level of career training and/or education needed to compete in business or get a living-wage job.  Closing the "opportunity and achievement gap" afflicting Black students is essential, if we want future generations to succeed at work, in business, and in life. 

In 2024, the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC), in partnership with the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs (CAAA), commissioned an update to the landmark 2008 report on the state of African American education in Washington. Our report, A Plan to Close the Educational Opportunity Gap, emerges from a deeply engaged, statewide research effort.

Early Learning and Student Success

Research shows as much as 50 percent of the academic "achievement gap" can be closed by effective early learning. Data reveals a child's first five years are critical to future success in school and in life. Children who enter kindergarten near-proficient across all readiness skills perform significantly better on standardized tests of English and math in third, fourth and fifth grade. These years lay the foundation for emotional, social, language, cognitive, and physical development -- all critical to success in school.

Programs such as Head Start have been extensively studied and found to benefit young learners, especially those in low-income families.  The Washington State Literacy Framework K-6 focuses on kindergarten - 6th grade literacy systems and is designed to support schools and educators in providing high-quality, equitable literacy instruction. 

Parental Empowerment

is about giving families the information, tools, and tactics they need to improve student performance and to improve local schools. Our goal is to improve educational policy but we also partner with the Governor's Education Ombudsman and others to review parent empowerment models that work for Black families.  

Becoming a Teacher in Washington State

CAAA has proposed innovative the pathways to certification for new teachers, out of state applicants, former educators and current teachers. Find out more here on the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) website.