ABOUT

Education equity does not yet exist in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Despite all the wealth in California and our collective reputation for “progressivism,” extreme gaps still exist for Black and Latino children in the Bay Area. Though many of the most common factors preventing education equity in the Bay Area—such as systemic racism, policing, and criminalization of our Black and Latino children—are approached locally, these issues are in fact regional. The Bay Area Coalition for Education Justice (BACEJ) prioritizes regional power-building and cross-district information and lesson sharing for families to address this root contributing factor to education equity.

BACEJ works to develop and implement a strategic regional approach for education equity.

HISTORY

The glimmer of Bay Area Coalition for Education Justice (BACEJ) began in 2016 when Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network (PLAN) and Coleman Advocates hosted a convening of parent leaders and staff to conduct the community-led research necessary to develop standards for Transformative Family Engagement. 

In 2017, PLAN and Coleman Advocates launched the Bay Area Transformative Family Engagement Workgroup to guide the development of the TFE Standards. The workgroup included parent leaders and staff from five Bay Area family engagement organizations: Bay Area PLAN, FIERCE Advocates (formerly Building Blocks for Kids), Californians for Justice, Coleman Advocates, and Sacred Heart Community Service. 

Throughout 2018 and 2019, the workgroup facilitated student and parent focus groups and regional community convenings.

In 2020, Bay Area PLAN, FIERCE Advocates, and Coleman Advocates further evolved the Workgroup by officially launching BACEJ, which functioned as a three-organization strong coalition across several regions in the Bay Area.

Since 2023, two core organizations, FIERCE Advocates and Coleman Advocates, continue to lead BACEJ.