In 2024, the Alliance funded a district-wide resource study and strategic plan, graduated the Seattle Teacher Residency’s 11th cohort of educators, and distributed over $1M to students and families for essential basic needs.
The Alliance for Education, the local education fund for the Seattle Public School district, is pleased to release its 2024 annual report, highlighting the accomplishments and impact made in the last school year. In a time of shifting funding, growing uncertainty, and urgent need, the Seattle community must double down and stand united in support of what works for Seattle students. This newly-released report underscores that.
Seattle Public Schools is the largest district in Washington with an enrollment of 49, 240 students and 4,266 educators. The district continually ranks high when compared nationally to urban, public districts and boasts over 405national board certified educators and more than half of enrolled students identifying as Black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC).
“Seattle Public Schools serve as the backbone of our community. As a lifelong Seattleite and SPS grad, I know the importance a quality public education can make. Students today learn from the best dedicated educators, have access to world-class extracurriculars and outperform their peers in other districts across the state and country,” says Dr. Brent Jones, departing Superintendent at Seattle Public Schools. “We could not make this happen without the decades of partnership and community support the Alliance cultivates.”
In 2024, as others backed down and had to scale back, the Alliance’s commitment and partnership came to life in powerful ways.
- Together with Seattle Public Schools and the philanthropic community, the Alliance resourced a new five-year strategic plan and a district-wide resource study to guide the next phase of educational justice and excellence.
- The Right Now Needs Fund distributed over $1 million to students and families, providing low-barrier access to essential basic needs 14,840 times and modeling a family-centered, trust-based approach that larger systems can learn from.
- The Seattle Teacher Residency continued to prepare and support a diverse, talented teaching workforce, with 80% of graduates serving more than five years in SPS classrooms—impacting thousands of students each year with graduates teaching in 87% of Seattle Title I schools.
- And most importantly, The Alliance joined in community and created joy by co-hosting a college and career fair for 200 high school students at Seattle University; celebrating 5 years of the Right Now Needs Fund with social workers and family support workers; awarding 8 principals and teachers with $68K in grants and fiscally sponsoring two equity funds led by parents and advocates.
The Alliance for Education was founded in 1995 to rally community and philanthropic support for Seattle Public Schools, serving as a bridge between local partners and the district. And for the past 30 years, the Alliance for Education has had a consistent commitment to supporting Seattle Public Schools and is proud to have fundraised and invested over $200M in Seattle’s students, families and educators since 1995.
“Since 2019 our mission has been to focus on advancing racial equity and educational justice because the problem has never been our brilliant students, but rather the systems that hold them back,” says Yonas Fikak, Vice President of Impact at the Alliance for Education. “This 30-year milestone is both a celebration of what we have accomplished together and a call to action to keep pushing for racial equity, student-centered programs, and stronger community partnerships during this period of unprecedented challenges.”
About the Alliance for Education
For 30 years, the Alliance for Education has worked in partnership with Seattle Public Schools to address crucial challenges facing students, families and educators. Our mission is to support excellence in education by advancing educational justice and racial equity for students in Seattle Public Schools. Our work is collaborative as we seek to address systemic inequities in public schools and create a more equitable and just education system that allows all Seattle students to thrive.