Story highlights A public school teacher's union in Seattle took a stand with shirts and signs

The move was designed to address education equity

(CNN) Thousands of Seattle teachers made for an inspiring sight when they wore Black Lives Matter shirts en masse to reinforce their commitment to black students in their public schools.

Educators and students from schools all over the district united Wednesday under banners and raised fists. They wanted to highlight that in order for "black lives to matter, black education has to matter."

"This movement is also broader than police accountability. In a school system as dramatically unequal as ours, it's incumbent upon educators and families to stand up and say something about this," Jesse Hagopian, one of the event's organizers and a history teacher at Garfield High School, told radio station KUOW-FM

More than half of the district's 53,000 students are non-white, and African-Americans make up the largest minority group. An Education Department report released earlier this year showed just how much blacks and Latino students still lag in terms of opportunities.

"Equity anchors the work of our union," a statement from the Seattle Education Association said. "Eliminating the opportunity gap and providing an equitable quality public education is at the forefront of our mission."