Seattle Schools and the Alliance for Education
When we last left this story, the Alliance had been mostly bounced out of SPS. There apparently had been too much push from the Alliance on the direction of the district and it made SPS leadership uneasy. So the Alliance was left mostly managing fundraising finances for various SPS groups like PTAs, booster clubs, etc.
So I was somewhat surprised to hear Superintendent Brent Jones name the Alliance as being a partner with SPS at his State of the District speech. But it appears that the Alliance is waaaay back in SPS good graces and, from examining the Alliance's website, I can see why. (Just a heads up - some of the Alliance's links are wonky and won't open.)
Item One
I had forgotten that the Alliance was paying for the Seattle Teacher Residency Program which is important for SPS to grow their own teaching corps. The STR does bring in more teachers of color who tend to work at Title One schools. This program is probably more important than ever given that post-COVID, many teachers are considering leaving the profession.
Item Two
The Right Now Needs Fund. I had wondered where the money that Amazon had donated to SPS had gone.
The Right Now Needs Fund is an initiative from the Alliance for Education, and was launched in October of 2018 with a $2M/two year investment from Amazon. The Fund is designed to provide funds to address the most basic needs of Seattle Public Schools students, to ensure that students can come to school and focus on learning.
What is rather interesting is that the Alliance claims the Fund is its initiative but I think Amazon might beg to differ.
The Alliance stewards and disburses the funds to all 104 Seattle Public Schools, in amounts reflective of the percentage of students in each school receiving free and reduced lunch. The fund can be leveraged to provide support for the immediate needs of students not covered by existing school budgets. Funds can be requested by any school community member and requests are approved by the school principal.
The funds can be spent on addressing the basic needs of students. Examples of appropriate expenditures include warm clothing, adequate food, shelter, and necessary school supplies. Funds cannot be spent on existing school budget expenses.
Any school community member can recommend a disbursement of the fund, however school principals provide final authorization and make requests.
Right Needs Now Fund:
- $1.2M in funds distributed to students and families with immediate needs
- 18,471 instances of student support
- $550,000+ distributed for food
- $502,000+ distributed for shelter
- $160,000+ distributed for clothing support
- $25,000+ distributed for school supplies
- $12,000+ distributed for health services
Right Needs Now Fund COVID-19* Response:
- 5,665 instances of student support
- 63% for food
- 34% for shelter
- 1% for school supplies
- 2% for clothing support
- $535,210 spent since March 2020; in the past 12 months $815,803 has been spent
It would be interesting to see which schools received the most money. Because if you read the above, school communities that are more active or in the know, might be getting more than others.
Item Three
Commitment to Racial Equity
Beginning in June 2019, the Alliance led the creation of a $2.3M fund in support of SPS’ Office of African American Male Achievement. Alliance staff continue to work in partnership with our philanthropic partners to identify additional resources with the goal of raising a minimum of $3M in support of this important work.
Now this I did not know. The district is getting the money for the AAMA office from the Alliance. Oddly, the district's page on the AAMA office doesn't mention the Alliance.
From the Seattle Medium:
The Alliance for Education secured the funding for the Department through contributions from multiple leading philanthropic organizations committed to supporting K-12 education, including: Amazon, Raikes Foundation, Ballmer Group, The Satya and Rao Remala Foundation, The Boeing Company, Seattle Foundation, Casey Family Programs, Kaiser Permanente, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The John Stanford Fund, Microsoft Corporation, Tabor 100, and the Nesholm Family Foundation.
According to (Dr. Mia) Williams, the funding will not only support some of the foundational components of the department, but it will also provide funding for three African American male achievement mentorship coordinators, two African American male achievement family support specialists, and to sustain “and hopefully expand” the Seattle Kingmakers program, a partnership with the City of Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning that focuses on positive racial identity development, mentoring and leadership skills, which is currently housed in four Seattle Public Schools.
Item Four
Education Equity Fund*
The Alliance launched the Education Equity Fund at the start of the pandemic, recognizing that students furthest from educational justice were going to be the most impacted by COVID-19. Launched within weeks of schools closing, the fund connected donors directly to a way to support students and teachers. More than $3 million in cash and in-kind donations were raised to provide students with computers, internet access, food and more, and to support teachers in meeting the demands of remote learning.
*I'm unclear on what the difference is between the Right Now Fund COVID funding and the Education Equity Funding.
Item Five
School Fiscal Services
Way back when, the Alliance was doing these services for free as part of its mission but about a decade ago, asked for payment (I would guess to offset their own costs).
The Alliance offers robust fiscal sponsorship services that enable individual schools and education–related organizations to expand their base of charitable support.We currently serve approximately 120 groups, including booster clubs, alumni groups, parent groups and others. These groups raise funds for needed classroom supplies, tutoring, enrichment programs, and schoolhouse expenses not covered by existing school budgets.
I love that charming "schoolhouse expenses" which would include paying for staff.
The Alliance retains 6% of every donation to cover a portion of the program costs. Donors giving online have the option to cover this administrative fee so that the sponsored group receives 100% of the gift.
Gifts made through the Alliance qualify for tax-deductibility based on the Alliance’s status as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, so your organization does not need to obtain its own non-profit status.
So you could have a school booster club that didn't need to be a non-profit to organize.
Comments
You're right, what happens is families have a kid and then have to move out (we subleased to live closer to schools and returned later). Some stay downtown with 1 kid, but with 2 kids you really do have to leave. There are too few 2- and 3-bedroom condos/apartments downtown, and other than a couple of pricey privates (Spruce Street), there are no easy-to-access schools. Lowell and Montlake are not easy to access if you live downtown and are carless, and this past year the district actually wanted middle schoolers to wait for public buses at known crime/drug corners, so there's that whole issue too.
It's a bit of chicken/egg problem: should we build the schools and the 2/3-bedrooms that will allow families to opt into density downtown and live close to work, or do we do it the other way around? A lot of urbanists want good transit put in first, that will drive density and increase demand for 2/3-bedrooms they say. But no family can really stay downtown without two things: schools and bedrooms. If we want density, we need to serve families downtown with all three, transit, schools, bedrooms.
A K-8 near Westlake or near the new Aquarium would be marvelous. A school in Pioneer Square would probably improve safety/security concerns there, as the presence of families does that. There's a lot of empty office space in the Financial District, the old Bon Marche building isn't being fully used by Amazon, there are lots of options if the district were to get creative. There would be immediate access to museums, ferries, public art, transit. If they build schools, people will come, and stay.
Belltown
(*Which is not something that makes logical sense when you realize that the district allocates funds inequitably because they expect some families to make up the loss. PTA funds close gaps, and ensure that every kid at a school has opportunites.)
Alliance for Ed is this programming. They have professionals working to ensure that the funds are tracked, used, and managed appropriately. They provide a central clearing house for any school to request help. They provide for all schools, not just those with PTAs. They are not relying on local temporary volunteers to decide on charitable direction.
Schools with more need get a bigger default allotment of money, but every school can apply for funding. Even wealthy schools have some students whose families need emergency assistance, and Alliance for Ed provides that assistance.
Yes, it helps to have a school who understands the system, but this is true of every single funding source ... anywhere ever?
After working with our school counselor in the years before and during Covid, I have become an incredibly big fan of Alliance for Ed and especially the Right Now Needs fund. They are making a difference, and they are making a difference with the kind of organization and guide rails that PTAs lack. I will not donate to my PTA so who ever the current volunteers in charge is can decide which other PTA gets some cash, but I will absolutely donate to Right Now Needs where I see that the cash goes for diapers, food, glasses, shelter, books, scholarships, and onwards.