The current exclusionary practice of allowing only a handful of public-school-based clock-hour providers to offer mandatory clock hours in cultural competence, diversity, equity, and inclusion is short-sighted, inefficient, and ineffective.
Our request is straightforward—organizations that have already met the rigorous standards to become clock hour providers should be included among those allowed to offer all required clock hours, including cultural competency coursework, ensuring both quality and true inclusivity in professional learning.
Currently, organizations, universities, private schools, and nonprofits that wish to serve as Washington State Clock Hour Providers must apply through the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB). Each course offered for clock hours undergoes a rigorous review by a committee of education practitioners to ensure it is taught by a qualified expert, supported by a relevant syllabus, and directly aligned with Washington State learning standards. As an additional accountability measure, attendees are required to provide feedback on the quality of each course, which is reviewed by the oversight committee.
The clock hour system is designed to encourage collaboration between educators and the broader education community. By allowing universities, school districts, private schools, nonprofits, and professional associations to offer clock hours, the state expands access to high-quality, relevant professional learning that draws on specialized expertise and research-based practices—far beyond what school districts alone can provide.
However, Washington State has limited approval to offer clock hours in cultural competency to only a small number of providers, all of which are public school–based entities. As a result, if a private school superintendent wishes to bring in a nationally recognized diversity, equity, and inclusion expert for a staff in-service day, that training cannot count for clock hours. Instead, individual teachers must seek out separate online courses or attend offerings through an ESD or OSPI, even when high-quality, in-person training is already taking place at their school.
This restriction creates an apparent contradiction: coursework focused on inclusion and equity is itself being delivered through an exclusionary system that prevents a diversity of qualified organizations from participating.
