Some civil right organizations are planning to come out for more testing in a letter circulating in DC this very moment. We must organize locally against Pearson and the testing movement. We must have conversation with our civil rights organizations locally. More soon from the Network for Public Education.

NAACP Seattle has taken a stand against high-stakes testing in Washington (Click on the links below the teacher recruitment thread).

They are also putting the pressure on local school districts to hire more teachers of color.

NAACP Confronts Local School Board
NBC News
NAACP members accuse the leaders of ‘America’s most diverse school district,’ of not doing enough to hire teachers of color during a heated board meeting. KING’s Natalie Swaby reports.

NAACP accuses local school board of racist hiring practices
Kiro7 News
Local NAACP president Gerald Hankerson said he’s fed up and wants to see drastic change. “We have given you countless recommendations,” he said. “We have met with you on countless occasions, and you still don’t seem to get it right.”
Hankerson said the organization has been meeting with the district for months to help it diversify its teaching staff.

NAACP confronts Tukwila School Board
King5 News
NAACP President Gerald Hankerson said after months of working with the school district, diversity is still a big problem. “You are the reason they are failing. You are stunting their academic growth,” said Hankerson. “You don’t even look like the kids that go to this school. You don’t even speak their language.”

NAACP Slams Tukwila School District On Minority Hiring
KUOW
The Tukwila School District boasts one of the most diverse student bodies in the state. But the NAACP of Seattle-King County says the district isn’t doing enough to hire teachers of color. The civil rights organization said it planned to confront the district’s board members Tuesday night about what it called “racist hiring practices.”

I AM AN EDUCATOR

“…the Opt Out movement is a vital component of the Black Lives Matter movement and other struggles for social justice in our region. Using standardized tests to label Black people and immigrants ‘lesser,’ while systematically under-funding their schools, has a long and ugly history in this country.” -Gerald Hankerson, current President of the Seattle/King County NAACP “It was not until I was long out of school and indeed after the [first] World War that there came the hurried use of the new technique of psychological tests, which were quickly adjusted so as to put black folk absolutely beyond the possibility of civilization.” –W.E.B Du Bois, Co-founder of the NAACP

Seattle NAACP President Gerald Hankerson addresses the SBAC press conference.

On Tuesday, April 7, 2015 Gerald Hankerson, the President of the Seattle/King County NAACP and Rita Green, the Education Chair of the Seattle/King County NAACP, began our press conference with a…

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Published by Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig

Julian Vasquez Heilig is an award-winning researcher and teacher.