Participating in a Virtual Legislative Session
All meetings, hearings, and testimonies for the 2021 legislative session will be happen virtually. This provides constitutes with more access and opportunity to be heard by their elected officials than ever before. Whether it’s tracking a bill or testifying in front of a committee, we’ve compiled a list of resources to keep you connected and engaged during this unprecedented session.
Advocating for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs
Foundation for Tacoma Students board member Grant Hosford testified in front of the Senate committee in favor of a bill regarding the development of comprehensive school counseling programs. As a retired principal and counselor, Grant has witnessed firsthand the impact that school counselors have on the social, emotional, and educational success of youth.
New COVID-19 Relief for Nonprofits
With the opening of the 2021 Legislative Session, we focus our efforts on the role and influence we play personally and professionally in our community. It will require collective action for us to advance student-centered education amid the disruptions, disconnections, and trauma brought about by the pandemic. A remote legislative session provides us all with more opportunities than ever before to support working parents and the resiliency of their children – both of which are key to building vibrant, flourishing communities.
White Papers: Safeguard Funding for Community-Based Organizations Offering Youth Development Programs
Children’s growth doesn’t begin and end with the school day. For many foster youth, homeless youth, youth involved in the justice system, low-income youth, and children of color, community organizations provide vital, holistic support of their academic, social, behavioral, and emotional growth outside their experience in the K-12 system. Programs providing this holistic support include […]
White Papers: Implement an “Automatic Opt-In” for the College Bound Scholarship
Effective advocacy by the Tacoma-Pierce County community prompted Gov. Jay Inslee to issue an Executive Order creating a temporary opt-in for the College Bound Scholarship, but legislative action in the 2021 session is needed to ensure that this path to college for students from low-income families becomes permanent state policy.
White Papers: Stabilize K-12 Budgets to Protect School Readiness
During the pandemic, anomalous and unpredictable fluctuations in student enrollments are creating a misleading picture of expected enrollments in 2021, which will affect the calculations of the Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction (OSPI) for per-pupil funding allotments. If unaddressed, this pandemic-related underrepresentation of enrollments will reduce funding allocations in districts all across Washington, […]
White Papers: Lasting Investments in Quality Early Learning Opportunities
Each of Washington’s 460,000 children under the age of 5 deserves the chance to enter kindergarten ready, healthy, and with the support they need to begin a lifetime of learning. However, Washington spends a little over 1 percent of its state budget on early care and education – placing our state 39th in the nation in […]
A Year to Catalyze Each Other
Amidst a tumultuous summer, the Foundation piloted a Racial Equity Organizational Assessment tool. We spoke to five organizations participating in the Community Learning Fund to reflect on the weeks following the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Manuel Ellis, Rayshard Brooks, and Jacob Blake. They shared how their work became newly defined in the last year and signaled a turning point to double down on their efforts to be anti-racist.
Collaborative Action Network’s Virtually Convene
Our Collaborative Action Networks are the heart and soul of the Graduate Tacoma movement. Over 120 partners come together each month to discuss strategies to support Tacoma students.The ability for our incredible partners to continue to support students in this way given the unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic and our ongoing and elevated racial unrest speaks to the power of collective action and the Graduate Tacoma community.
Giving Tuesday with Graduate Tacoma
Every year the Graduate Tacoma movement convenes hundreds of people committed to the success of students. Our work is rooted in partnerships, working together, collaboration, and the understanding that transforming systems in favor of young people requires cooperation across all parts of a community. Like so many of us, 2020 has challenged the way we […]