The majority of students in Spokane County won’t have the opportunity to have a teacher of color during their k-12 experience. The importance of having someone who looks like you or reflects a similar culture as an educator is something I can’t emphasize enough. It is equally important that all our students have the opportunity to be taught by a diverse array of community members.
The Spokane Future Educators of Color Consortium (SFECC) is run in partnership with the League of Education Voters and co-facilitated by Maria Esther Zamora and me. Maria Esther is the founder and has been working in Spokane Public Schools for close to 30 years. The SFECC started from Maria Esther’s vision after her own experience hearing from students she had taught who only ever had her as an educator of color. She wanted to start a group that would give people a place for community, and that would also advocate for educator diversity in her district and across the region.
Starting with Maria Esther’s vision, the SFECC spent years listening to groups across the state and country to understand how others had been working to diversify their educator workforce. At the same time the coalition started to grow. With strategic partnerships with local universities, ESD 101, Spokane Public Schools, and a host of invested community members we have worked to build community through meetings and gatherings and have partnered to develop best practices for hiring with Spokane Public Schools and ESD 101.
Through all of this, the main goal is to support in recruiting and retaining educators of color in the Spokane region. With this we believe strongly in a grow your own educator model that recognizes the beauty of the community we have and encouraging our students to see a future in education.
The SFECC believes that we need to take a deep look into why we struggle in education, specifically in our region, to recruit and retain educators of color. Our next project will focus specifically on this issue. We plan to launch the “School House Voices” listening project in the fall to collect stories and data on the experience of educators and specifically educators of color in Spokane County.
To join the SFECC, attend one of our gathering or if you are interested in the :School House Voices” project contact Kenji at kenji@educationvoters.org.