June 12, 2019
Educators for Excellence-New York Reacts to School Diversity Announcement
June 12 (New York) —Educators for Excellence-New York (E4E-New York), a teacher-led organization, reacts to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza’s action on the School Diversity Advisory Group’s recommendations for better integrating New York City Public Schools.
“The acceptance of 62 out the School Diversity Advisory Group’s 67 recommendations is a good faith start to improving the integration of New York City Schools,” said Paula White, Executive Director of Educators for Excellence-New York. “The efforts to diversify our schools must include substantive investments in diversifying the city’s educator workforce. The efforts to infuse curricula with culturally responsive learning and ensure that all teachers have anti-bias trainings will only be truly successful when our school staff also reflect the diversity of the student community they serve. These significant investments are still missing from the recommendations agreed to by the mayor and chancellor.”
Last October, Educators for Excellence-New York delivered to Chancellor Carranza the signatures of over 1,000 New York City educators in support of efforts to diversify New York City Public Schools – demonstrating that the crucial voice of educators is essential in the conversation around school diversity. In February, E4E-New York members released a series of recommendations addressing the severe gap between student and teacher diversity.
While only 15 percent of New York City students are white, 58 percent of the teacher workforce is white.
The diversity gap is especially pronounced in our city’s most diverse neighborhoods, such as Flushing, Queens (Community School District 25), in which only 14 percent of the student population is white, while 74 percent of the teacher workforce is white.
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Educators for Excellence-New York Reacts to School Diversity Announcement