The Seattle Special Education PTSA is thrilled to see our District recognize the need for more inclusive classroom and school experiences. In 2020-2021, our PTSA focused our advocacy work on three areas — including working to increase inclusionary practices throughout the District.
During Disability History and Awareness Month last October, some of you attended our Community Conversation About Inclusion.
Some of you have attended programs about inclusion we have presented with speakers from:
- The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
- The Office of the Education Ombuds
- The Haring Center at the University of Washington
- The Arc of King County
- Seattle University’s Center for Change in Transition Services
- and more
Throughout these conversations, we’ve heard and learned two things.
One, it’s critical to include and center student voices and needs in making the kind of system change called for in moving to inclusive classrooms. Members of our Board met last week with Directors Rankin and Rivera Smith. We followed up our conversation with proposed language to add to the policy amendments that would make it a policy to include student voices.
Two is the need for a shared understanding of the benefits of inclusion for all students. This shared understanding creates a “why” to take on this work and would involve everyone in the process– administrators, teachers, students, and families.
Respectfully, we hope you will create an anti-ableism policy for the District. An anti-ableism policy that sees the connection between anti-ableism and anti-racism work, a policy that makes clear the community values behind the push to adopt inclusive educational strategies like Universal Design for Learning, an anti-ableism policy to ensure the most marginalized students in the system are fully supported.
Our PTSA hopes to continue collaborating with staff and the School Board as the inclusion work continues.
