ESP Vision formed at the end of 2008 out of an urgency to unite all schools facing closure or disruption due to the Seattle School District’s ill-conceived capacity management plan. In January of 2009, ESP Vision launched an online petition against the proposed school closures and program discontinuations, which garnered more than 1,700 signatures prior to the day of the school board’s final vote. More visibly, ESP Vision organized a rally of hundreds of concerned community members, giving them a massive forum to exercise their disapproval. This communicated to the public that Seattle schools’ $25 million budget shortfall was a poor justification for school closures, creating more urgent shortfalls like the disruption of education for more than 3,500 students and an increasing attrition rate (and the loss of state per-pupil funding) during a time when Seattle schools had a $30 million, untapped reserve fund.
What’s more, the schools targeted for closure were programs that served an overwhelming majority of low-income populations or students of color, leading to questions about school board priorities and leadership, process and infringement on civil rights. When the Seattle school board voted 5-2 to approve the school closure plan, the Seattle community responded to the great injustice, coalescing parent, student, educator and civil rights groups all over the city to take legal action in appealing the school board decision and filing discrimination complaints against the department of education. In this process, ESP Vision’s commitment and role in the struggle for equitable and quality education became clear.
About Us
ESP Vision formed at the end of 2008 out of an urgency to unite all schools facing closure or disruption due to the Seattle School District’s ill-conceived capacity management plan. In January of 2009, ESP Vision launched an online petition against the proposed school closures and program discontinuations, which garnered more than 1,700 signatures prior to the day of the school board’s final vote. More visibly, ESP Vision organized a rally of hundreds of concerned community members, giving them a massive forum to exercise their disapproval. This communicated to the public that Seattle schools’ $25 million budget shortfall was a poor justification for school closures, creating more urgent shortfalls like the disruption of education for more than 3,500 students and an increasing attrition rate (and the loss of state per-pupil funding) during a time when Seattle schools had a $30 million, untapped reserve fund.
What’s more, the schools targeted for closure were programs that served an overwhelming majority of low-income populations or students of color, leading to questions about school board priorities and leadership, process and infringement on civil rights. When the Seattle school board voted 5-2 to approve the school closure plan, the Seattle community responded to the great injustice, coalescing parent, student, educator and civil rights groups all over the city to take legal action in appealing the school board decision and filing discrimination complaints against the department of education. In this process, ESP Vision’s commitment and role in the struggle for equitable and quality education became clear.