CRSJ News – October 2025
SEA Racial & Social Justice Newsletter – October 2025
Welcome back Seattle Educators! I would like to start by offering a special thanks to all new, returning AR’s who attended the 101 training and CRSJ Dignity Conference August 22nd. Reflecting on both events SPS TRI and CRSJ conference, I hope you have been able to connect, reach out to someone new and or call them into our union work. Please invite someone new to our monthly representative assembly.
I would like to start my first message with a little gratitude around the SAFETY efforts SPS is attempting to address this year. SPS’ new Verkada security system feels like their way to address safety for our students & families. This new system has come with some concerns from our members however we must also admit they are trying something. I am hoping this year we will look for positive solutions & outlooks over the negative responses and dismay that have been felt over the last few years by not having safe schools’ sites.
Reflective on this.. Change it can be hard, hard to get used to but if the system will make things better for the greater good like our kids and community! Is it worth giving it a try and hoping for positive results we seek. Our Nation has been demonstrating much division and attacks over seeking solutions to make things better for the greater good. How can we, as human beings, educators, the real boots on the ground begin to help change the narrative.
This month’s issue has resources about:
- October 9:29 representative assembly topic
- SEA CRSJ Len Hill Educator Grants
- Education resources & training
- Local Community & Labor Engagements
- Upcoming calendar events
CRSJ Advisory: Director Elizabeth Ward-Robertson, Cert Nigal Farr, Cert Matt Legacki, Cert Lindsey States, SEA VP Davina Diaz, Para Alisha Quinones, SAEOP Charnjit Dhoot, Uniserve Uti Hawkins
Do you know monthly at SEA Representative Assembly (RA), All members are welcome to attend. We hold space set aside to uplift the voices of our BIPOC represented educators during the 9:29 reflect on the George Floyd uprise in April 2021. Your CRSJ advisory team wants to ensure all members who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and who culturally and historically come into this space via family lineage, ancestry homelands or our ethnicity affiliation to speak out into the space.
October Topic
Why or how are these terms & examples useful in our spaces as means of holding ourselves accountable from their Weaponization. (THE POINT)
Teaching into Othering, Voice & Culture Appropriation and Trolling
SEA CRSJ Len Hill Leader & Advocacy Grants
It’s time again!
With the SEA CRSJ Len Hill Leader and Advocacy Grant Program, Racial Equity Teams (RET’s) led by SEA members can apply for grants of $500, $750, or $1500 to fund racial equity work in their SPS school building/programs during the 2025-2026 school year.
Resources:
National Education Association on the Impact of social media & personal devices on Mental Health
https://www.nea.org/resource-library/impact-social-media-and-personal-devices-mental-health
WEA Eastside Bargaining and Beyond Conference – Saturday October 25th
Big Bend Community College, Moses Lake, WA
Registration Closes Friday October 10th
For More Information and to Register
Special Education Law
Friday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake
As an added opportunity for WEA members, we will be hosting an in-person session of Special Education Law on Friday, Oct. 24, in Moses Lake. Individuals who have signed up to attend the Special Education Advocacy and Organizing Skills Session must have taken the six-hour Special Education Law class within the previous six months or sign up and attend this class on Oct. 24. Registration for this special event is separate from the Bargaining and Beyond Conference. WEA will not be providing release time, travel, or other reimbursement for participants of this special session. Members are encouraged to work with their local or councils if they need assistance. Please register online here
Local Community & Labor Engagements:
(RARE) Roosevelt Alumni for Racial Equity
Seeks the involvement of the community! Learn more here
National Indian Education Association (NIEA) – Conference
2025 WEA LBGTQ+ Educators Conference – Saturday November 1st – Federal Way High School
The inaugural 2025 WEA LGBTQ+ Educators Conference is devoted to creating an inclusive educational environment for students and staff to ensure a safe and welcoming school setting for all communities. As professional educators, participants will network and learn ways to create culturally responsive practices within all systems and structures using a lens of diversity, equity and inclusion representing the LGBTQIA+ communities. This will be done through improved communication between staff, students, administration, school boards and their surrounding communities. Through better communication and improved relational school settings, an environment will be created for social emotional learning that impacts academic achievement.
FNTI is October 28-30th
WEA is part of the Future Native Teachers Initiative (FNTI), a 2.5-day immersive conference designed to inspire Native students who are on a path to a career in education
An Evening of Justice @ Wing Luke 2025 | NWIRP.org
Thursday, October 16th, 2025
The Wing Luke Museum
719 South King Street | Seattle, WA
Reception at 5:30pm | Program at 6:30pm
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October 10, the CRSJ is partnering with the Washington State Labor Council’s Union, Community & Naturalization Organizer Dulce Gutierrez & SEA Cert, Lindsay States with ML department to present a Know Your Rights Training to interested staff at Denny Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School.
All school district educators should be aware of their rights and learn how to exercise them effectively. This training covers the basics of how educators can protect themselves at work, at home, or in public, by exercising their rights and being prepared when interacting with law enforcement, including immigration agents. This 2-hour educational training will help attendees learn more about new immigration policies, how to organize with colleagues, and how to create a plan that makes sense for each worksite.
Resources:
Funding for SPS educator classrooms: https://www.wspsequityfund.org/
Truth & Purpose Learning Experiences — The Institute For Common Power
Upcoming Events:
- October 4-5: WEA PAC in Vancouver WA
- October 8-11: 56th Annual (NIEA) Convention & Trade Show in Spokane, WA
- October 10: SPS Tri Day & SEA lunch hour Listening Sessions
- October 12: WEA WIN – Clerical Equity Training
- October 14: SEA RA @ Jane Addams MS
- October 18: WEA Human Civil Rights Conference in Pasco
- October 25: WEA ESP conference in Federal way
Thank you!
Elizabeth Ward Robertson
CRSJ Director
Seattle Education Association
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