We in the CJUSD believe that equity is the perpetual mechanism by which every person succeeds to fulfill their passion, advance their intellect, and increase their value through access and resource allocation.  Following are the five pillars of CJUSD’s vision of equity:

We will identify and eliminate disproportionality and disparity by generating, analyzing, and acting on robust data from multiple sources. Upon examination, education partners will see an organization that limits early tracking and streaming as well as postponing academic selection in elementary grades to provide equity and access to ALL elementary students.  Students in secondary grades will have access to and participate in the selection of meaningful and comparable alternatives that remove barriers and prevent dropouts.  This includes developing academic and business plans that address district equity objectives and goals.

We will proactively reveal and acknowledge the needs of the most marginalized voices (those furthest from fulfillment) and respond by providing each with what they need, when they need it. We will design a system that sustains a culture that examines bias and expects just practices leading to equitable academic outcomes. 

We will create clear pathways to ensure there are no dead ends in any learning environment. By creating open communication channels, students and families will have access to a proactive support system to prevent failure at school.  Open communication creates strong connections to schools and staff ensuring that everyone receives the required assistance in every students’ education.  To ensure there are clear pathways to success, students and families will be made aware of all opportunities, resources, and support available to them.  Additionally, we will actively examine all gatekeeping practices to be able to justify or dismantle them in accordance with our core values.

We will deploy practices that are culturally proficient, relevant, affirming, and sustaining that honor students’ life experiences, language, and culture, connecting to content taught to increase student learning and real-world application. We will examine bias and correct systemic inequities and injustices in our district services and curricular products to ensure they match our district core goals, beliefs, and values.  Our institutions will be responsive to our diverse community and provide successful inclusion of migrants and historically marginalized education partners within mainstream education.  CJUSD will provide professional development/training in cultural proficiency as well as establish a culturally proficient mindset that leads to building capacity in culturally proficient practitioners.

Cultivating safe spaces of community for students, families, and staff to advocate for our collective growth in equity.  Our schools will be spaces full of joy and free of fear, bullying, and harassment of any kind.  Our schools will be cultures of inclusion and reject cultural blindness, cultural incapacity, and cultural destructiveness.  Our staff will have a clear idea of their responsibility to equity fulfillment.  Together with our families, we will honor our differences and celebrate the gifts and uniqueness we each bring to the greater CJUSD.  We will fight the “us versus them” mentality, allowing us to cultivate a strong and meaningful partnership and collaborative community.