Washington Alliance for Better Schools

What it reported doing in 2024

Teach2connect educator program is a six month long educator professional development program that brings together employer mentors and educators to strengthen student learning experiences through authentic and relevant workplace connections. Partnering teachers with industry mentors ensure that content brought to the classroom is relevant to real-world careers and enhances student knowledge of career pathways. Teachers visit their industry mentors' work-site and engage in conversations and activities over the course of the program to learn about industry needs, trends, challenges and career pathway information that they bring back into the classroom to share with their students. Educators take their classroom on a field trip to an industry employer to help students better understand the relevance of classroom learning to the world of work. Throughout the program, teachers integrate career connected learning (ccl) into interactions with students and course curricula while ensuring inclusive, equity-centered design and implementation.the natural leaders program is a family-centered, family-led empowerment program working with underserved families, with a focus on bipoc, immigrant, and refugee parents and families. Using an asset-based model, wabs helps families identify and cultivate the skills necessary to help overcome the language, cultural, and systemic barriers that impact student success. The program fosters school system expertise, future-oriented planning, and family leadership skills. This program began in 2003 from the understanding that immigrant and refugee parents face vast language and cultural barriers that complicate equitable family engagement critical to the success of students, and often feel even more like outsiders than other parent groups.stem4good (formerly after-school stem academy) is an after-school program for elementary school students in grades 3-5. This 4-week program empowers students to imagine a future in local stem careers and pathways through playful, real-world problem solving. The program utilizes a wabs-designed curriculum, which infuses local industry-inspired career connected learning into each unit, while aligning with national science standards and social and emotional learning goals. Stem4good is facilitated by trained industry volunteers who also share their career journey as a way to inspire students. Stem4good also has a component focused on middle school students (formerly called build cool stuff). By exploring student-generated problems, each group meets after school to engage with stem educators and volunteers in the engineering design process. As part of a 6-week session, these experiences provide greater access to career-connected learning for bipoc (black, indigenous, and people of color) and underserved middle school students. In doing so, we will strengthen the diversity of our regional workforce by engaging young learners from underrepresented groups in stem fields.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 95.2%; rating input score 95
• Program expense ratio: 77.6%; rating input score 78
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -22.3%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 22.5%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings