Washington State Charter Schools Association

Mission

The Washington State Charter Schools Association (WA Charters) is a statewide organization that advocates for and supports a thriving, innovative charter public school sector that upholds quality via student-centered, community-rooted schools and aspires to disrupt a systemically racist and inequitable education system.

Description

ABOUT WASHINGTON'S CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Washington's charter public schools serve higher than average percentages of Global Majority students (i.e. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and students from low-income families, and employ three times the percentage of teachers of color as compared to the statewide average. These free public school options offer innovative, personalized learning models, and they are delivering promising academic results, high levels of parent satisfaction, and strong four-year college acceptance rates or post-secondary pathway plans for graduating seniors.

HELP TEACHERS TRANSFORM EDUCATION

This year, WA Charters is raising $6,000 to support nationally recognized, research-based professional development that will help our teachers transform education for thousands of students.

Washington’s charter public school educators are already changing the status quo: 39% of our state’s charter teachers are from the Global Majority, as compared to just 13 percent statewide. National studies have shown that this translates to positive outcomes, and results here support this. Per the most recent statewide assessments, students in systemically underserved groups attending Washington’s charter public schools are outperforming their peers in traditional public schools:

• According to the 2021 State Board of Education report, charter public school students performed higher than their traditional public school peers on 7 out of 8 academic measures on academic assessments
• On the most recent 2022 statewide academic assessments, low-income, Black, and Latina/o students in charter public schools outperformed their traditional public school peers in all tested subjects.
• Nearly a third of the class of 2022 in charter public schools were first-generation high school graduates, all graduated college ready, and 70% of them applied to and were accepted into four-year colleges.

With your support, we can give eight scholarships for National Board Certification to diverse, community-rooted educators. Charter public school teachers are breaking down barriers to opportunity for students across Washington. You can help them become even more effective by providing them with nationally recognized professional development experiences. 

• Students of National Board-certified teachers learn more than their peers without National Board-certified teachers. Studies have also found that the positive impact of having a Board-certified teacher is even greater for Global Majority and low-income students. 
• Teachers who have gone through the Board certification process say that it is the most valuable and transformative professional development they have ever received. 
• Teachers who have National Board Certifications can earn $11,000 more annually in Washington state!

YOUR IMPACT IS BIGGER THANKS TO UMPQUA BANK!

Umpqua Bank, our community partner, has committed a $2,000 contribution to our campaign, and is challenging our community to match their gift with $4,000! Help us meet our fundraising goal this year by joining Umpqua Bank in ensuring that all teachers have opportunities to grow. 

You can learn more about Umpqua Bank on their website: https://www.umpquabank.com/

YOUR GIFT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

• $750 could pay for one scholarship to a National Board preparation program
• $1,500 could pay for two scholarships to a National Board preparation program
• $3,000 could pay for half our cohort to complete the National Board preparation program

A gift of any size is meaningful and will support the careers, futures, and effectiveness of our amazing teachers.