Equity Mission & Vision
At Lane ESD, we act to eliminate beliefs and practices that result in inequitable outcomes. We do this with a vision of a world in which every student has the agency to contribute to their community in ways they determine are meaningful. This is foundational in the creation of beloved community.
We Believe…
Beloved communities acknowledge interdependence across myriad factors of intersectional identity including racial, ethnic, linguistic, diverse ability, neurodiversity, sexual identity, religious, socio-economic, housing, and family status.
We honor our differences as assets, not deficits.
It is critical to understand that achievement and opportunity gaps exist between historically and currently marginalized students and their peers. Achievement and opportunity gaps of historically and currently marginalized communities are the products of racist beliefs, policies, and practices.
It is our duty to dismantle them.
When EACH and EVERY learner receives the necessary resources, within a strength-based approach to national origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, first language, or other distinguishing characteristic, they are more likely to thrive.
It is our task to secure and provide them.
The unique identities, cultures, and experiences of students are strengths and assets that must be acknowledged and engaged in the schools and broader communities if we are to be successful in meeting our vision.
Every person belongs and matters.
The creation of a shared vision requires us to share in one another’s lives – listening and speaking in deep recognition of the dignity and worth of each person. We give our time to knowing and supporting each other.
Investment in each other is how we build beloved community.
A Call to Action
Lane ESD and component districts are committed to improving educational outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students, students navigating poverty and students with disabilities by investing in initiatives that will systematically eliminate opportunity gaps, improve and expand access to services and supports, and build upon assets of Lane County students and families.
Lane Service Plan, 2017-18
We Commit To…
- Leading together by example: Accepting our own biases, challenging the status quo, building relational trust, being inclusive of all voices, being reflective and open to multiple perspectives, demanding representation in places of power, and decolonizing practices that reproduce inequity.
- Considering new projects/initiatives: Applying our equity lens, explicitly employing anti-oppressive practices, identifying and centering historically and currently marginalized students as we co-create the system the youth in our care deserve, and employing goods and services from impacted communities first.
- Implementing projects/initiatives: Identifying potential barriers and mechanisms within the communities being served to ensure successful planning and program implementation by using multiple data sources to evaluate, refine, and sustain effective efforts.
- Planning/facilitating professional learning experiences: Grounding practices in culturally elevating, nourishing, and celebrating principles, ensuring that all learners are considered, allowing opportunities for participants to check for implicit bias, and considering who benefits (or not) from the experience.
- Reviewing and recommending Curriculum: Recommending curriculum that is culturally relevant and responsive to the communities being served; recognizing that content is a vehicle for love; challenging stereotypes and implicit bias that negatively impact minoritized youth; generating and responding to youth interest/voice, seeking out those traditionally and currently misrepresented, marginalized, or silenced.
Equity Is:
- Ensuring that EACH and EVERY learner receives the necessary resources they need individually to succeed Reducing the predictability of who succeeds and who fails
- Interrupting reproductive practices that negatively impact vulnerable and marginalized students
- Cultivating the unique gifts and talents of every student
- Achieving representation to balance the power dynamic