The Equity and Civil Rights Office promotes equal access, academic inclusion, and full educational participation in our Washington schools among our state's diverse, underrepresented and underserved populations.

We are grounded in federal and state civil rights and non-discrimination laws and the belief that educational systems that address their own biases, include their communities, and adapt to the culture and diversity of their students will realize educational excellence.

Our Services

• Supporting educators, students, parents and community members by answering questions and assisting them in finding resolution related to non-discrimination and civil rights laws and policies.
• Monitoring school district compliance with state and federal non-discrimination and civil rights laws and policies.
• Promoting individual and organizational self-awareness, anti-bias education and cultural competence in order to achieve educational excellence.

We define cultural competence in two ways:

For Individual Educational Staff and Volunteers:
A set of attitudes, awareness, knowledge and skills that enable respectful and effective work in cross-racial, cross-cultural and diverse contexts.

For Organizations/Systems:
A set of practices, skills, attitudes, policies and structures that operate together at the program, building and organizational level to enable fair and effective work in multicultural, multiracial, and diverse contexts.