Helping Homeless Students
Washington Appleseed is working to improve local school districts’ identification of homeless students and augment the delivery of vital services like free transportation to and from school and free or reduced price meals. Through Public Records Act requests and potential litigation, Appleseed and our community partners will help make sure that students are receiving the are receiving the benefit of funds earmarked for their assistance.

Supplementing Struggling Schools
Federal law requires schools that have fallen short of state learning standards for three years or more to pay for any low-income student to receive free academic tutoring. Parental involvement in schools plays a key role in securing these supplemental educational services for kids. Appleseed centers across the country have collaborated to create documents to help parents know about their children’s rights to these additional resources for academic success.

Access to Early Education
Many low-income, minority kids enter school behind and stay behind. Research has shown that one of the most effective methods of narrowing the persistent achievement gap is to work to increase access to high quality early education opportunities. Finding revenue sources for early education, particularly in Washington State, is a struggle. Two years after our original report exploring funding options for Pre K education, we have issued an update on new developments.

Increasing School Board Accountability
Washington Appleseed and Leadership Tomorrow teamed up to host a community conversation about the changing role of the Seattle School Board and the Superintendent. This moderated discussion addressed key issues like, What does a high functioning school board look like? What is the role of the superintendent vs. the role of the school board? What are the skills needed by school board members? Why should the community be concerned about these issues?

Improving Parental Involvement
Effective and wide-ranging parental participation in the education of their children is one of the most important factors in a child's success in school and, correspondingly, a central characteristic of successful schools. The Appleseed Network investigated and reported on how schools across the country are meeting the requirements of No Child Left Behind and actively engaging, or failing to engage, parents in their communities.