As a teacher-powered community we strive to rise above traditional education dichotomies and tensions and remain focused on creating student-centered learning communities designed and led by professional educators at the school site. We are a respectful, inclusive, and passionate group dedicated to improving the education system and serving all students in our local communities.

With this in mind, our Teacher-Powered Community norms and values are as follows:

• Teacher-powered schools are a means to create equitable, high-quality, culturally affirming, student-centered learning environments. At the end of the day, we do our work with and for the benefit of students.
• Teacher-powered schools are designed to serve the unique needs of their students and community. This work is never done in isolation and relies on deep partnership with students, families, and community members.
• Teacher-powered governance models lie on a spectrum, with some teams wanting and securing more or less autonomy than others; all are valued. It is up to the individual teams to decide which autonomies they need to best serve their students and staff.
• National, state, and local teacher unions are valuable allies and often support teacher-powered teams and opportunities.
• Teacher-powered teams are successful in district and charter settings. It is up to each team to decide the best setting in which to secure authority and autonomy. Regardless of setting, we have much to share and learn from each other.
• Principals and administrators are key allies in teacher-powered schools, helping the group of teachers to facilitate shared purpose, advocate for the decisions of the team, and serving as a resource. We welcome all educators and supporters committed to these values.

As members of the teacher-powered community, we agree to adhere to the co-created norms above.