Dear Partners and Friends,
It is because of the amazing community support and the universal willingness to align efforts on behalf of all students in Tacoma that we’ve made the tremendous progress we have over the past eight years.
While we at the Foundation for Tacoma Students celebrate the incredible Graduate Tacoma community-wide movement and progress, we must also recognize there are still large disparity gaps in a number of our indicators that we must address. We must continue to digest student data, align organizational efforts, and keep inspiring our educational leaders to make the best decisions for kids.
This year Tacoma Public Schools faces a large budget deficit as a result of the revised basic education funding formula from Washington State. This is something that will deeply impact the Graduate Tacoma movement and makes our collective work more important than ever to ensure that we keep the same standard of services for all students in Tacoma but specifically for those most in need.
Beginning in 2019, the Foundation for Tacoma Students will be advocating legislation that will increase funding for the very student supports that have enabled us to increase graduation rates and close disparity gaps. Now is the time to build a strong and adept approach to advocate for policies that disrupt long-standing inequities for historically underserved communities like ours. Graduate Tacoma’s vision for a, “ Tacoma where every child succeeds in school, career and life” is our community’s call to advocate on behalf of every child and we hope you will join us.
If you are interested in taking action as an individual or on behalf of your organization, please take a moment to fill out this form.
Sincerely,
Tafona Ervin, Ed. M | Executive Director
Foundation for Tacoma Students
