>>> WHEN STUDENTS WILL RETURN TO SCHOOL IS A BIT OF AN OPEN
QUESTION. ONE THING THAT IS CERTAIN, MORE
AND MORE STUDENTS OF COLOR ARE BEING EDUCATED IN WESTERN
MASSACHUSETTS. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO TEACHERS
AND ADMINISTRATORS, THE VAST MAJORITY ARE WHITE.
BEN JAMES, A FREELANCE JOURNALIST, EXPLORED HOW WE GOT
HERE AND SOME ONGOING EFFORTS TO MAKE SCHOOLS MORE DIVERSE, IN A
RECENT SERIES FOR NEW ENGLAND PUBLIC RADIO, AND HE DISCUSSED
HIS REPORT WITH ME. >> WELL, THERE IS REALLY A
PATTERN PLAYING OUT IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACROSS THE STATE.
AND I -- IT CAME TO MY ATTENTION AGAIN AND AGAIN WHERE THERE ARE
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS AND SCHOOL LEADERS WHO ARE SAYING WE
REALLY WANT MORE EDUCATORS OF COLOR IN OUR SCHOOLS AND THEN A
COUPLE OF SENTENCES LATER THEY SAY, IT IS REALLY HARD TO BRING
IN MORE EDUCATORS OF COLOR AND WE TRY AND SOMETIMES IT IS
IMPOSSIBLE EVEN. MEANWHILE, YOU HAVE COMMUNITY
LEADERS, TEACHERS, PARENTS OF SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN SAYING WHAT
DO YOU MEAN THIS IS A PRIORITY IF YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW,
IF YOU ARE HAVING SO FEW SUCCESSES, IF CHANGE IS
HAPPENING SO SLOWLY? THAT PATTERN IS PLAYING OUT WITH
VARIATION ACROSS THE STATE AND REALLY ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND
WITNESSING THAT AS A JOURNALIST AS WELL AS A FATHER OF
SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN, I JUST GOT CURIOUS.
I WAS, LIKE, I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THIS BETTER.
SO I WANTED DO KNOW, IS THERE REALLY A SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS OF
COLOR? IF THERE IS, WHAT IS CAUSING IT?
WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS FOR KIDS -- FOR STUDENTS OF COLOR AS WELL AS
WHITE STUDENTS? AND ARE THERE DISTRICTS THAT ARE
SUCCEEDING, THAT ARE DOING SOMETHING TO MAKE THINGS, YOU
KNOW, TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION. >> YOU DUG INTO ANSWERS TO A LOT
OF THOSE QUESTIONS IN A THREE-PART SERIES YOU DID FOR
NEW ENGLAND PUBLIC RADIO. LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT STUDENTS
OF COLOR, WE ARE SEEING STUDENTS OF COLOR BEING EDUCATED IN OUR
REGION, HOWEVER, THE TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATION, AS YOU
MENTIONED, WHO ARE EDUCATING THESE KIDS, THE VAST MAJORITY OF
THEM ARE WHITE. WHAT DID YOUR SOURCES SAY ABOUT
THE IMPACT OF THAT? >> I MADE IT A REAL POINT TO
MAKE SURE I HAD A VARIETY OF SOURCES.
SO IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR ME TO TALK TO ADMINISTRATORS AND
TEACHERS, OF COURSE. I CONSIDER STUDENTS EXPERTS ON
EDUCATION AND SO I MADE -- IT WAS CRUCIAL FOR ME TO INTERVIEW
STUDENTS AS WELL. AND SO THERE'S A DIFFERENT
ANSWER DEPENDING ON WHO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
I WOULD TEND TO START WITH THE STUDENTS AND SAY HOW ARE THEY
IDENTIFYING THE IMPACTS. >> ONE SENIOR YOU TALKED TO,
JAIDEN PEREZ A STUDENT AT AMHERST, THERE HAVEN'T BEEN ANY
PEOPLE OF COLOR MALE OR FEMALE IN OUR CORE CLASSES WHICH IS THE
BIG THING THAT AFFECTS IF WE PASS HIGH SCHOOL OR NOT.
THAT STUDENT SPOKE ABOUT A BIAS THAT THEY WERE SUBJECTED TO IN
TERMS OF GRADING. DID YOU HEAR THAT FROM OTHER
STUDENTS AS WELL? >> I THINK THERE IS A GENERAL
SENSE FOR STUDENTS I TALKED TO IN ALL THREE DISTRICTS, HOLYOKE,
NORTHAMPTON AND AMHERST, THEY HAVE HAD VERY FEW TEACHERS OF
COLOR THROUGHOUT THEIR ENTIRE SCHOOLING.
THESE ARE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS I INTERVIEWED, STRETCHING BACK TO
KINDERGARTEN THEY CAN SAY -- MANY OF THEM SAY I CAN COUNT ONE
OR TWO TEACHERS I HAVE HAD THAT WERE BLACK OR BROWN TEACHERS.
HIS POINT, AMHERST, YES, THERE ARE MORE ADULTS AROUND WHO ARE
PEOPLE OF COLOR. AND THE DISTRICT REALLY IS
MAKING AN EFFORT. I THINK HIS POINT IS THEY ARE
SUCCEEDING IN SOME WAYS, THIS CORE WAY THAT MATTERS, MATH,
ENGLISH, HISTORY, THE ONES THAT I GET GRADED ON THAT DECIDE WHAT
COLLEGE I MIGHT GO TO, THAT THOSE TEACHERS ARE STILL
PREDOMINANTLY WHITE AND THAT AFFECTS ME AS I'M SPEAKING IN
HIS VOICE, AS A STUDENT OF COLOR, THAT AFFECTS MY
EXPERIENCE OF HOW I CONNECT WITH MY TEACHER AND WHAT MY SUCCESS
MIGHT LOOK LIKE IN CLASS. I WANT TO CONTEXTUALIZE THAT
COMMENT BECAUSE AMHERST IS ONE OF THE DISTRICTS PROBABLY HAVING
THE MOST SUCCESS BRINGING MORE EDUCATORS OF COLOR INTO THE
BUILDING BUT HIS POINT WAS THERE IS STILL A LONG WAY TO GO.
>> SO WHEN YOU TALK TO THE ADMINISTRATION THERE AND SAY,
THIS IS WASN'T OF YOUR STUDENTS SAID, HERE IS WHAT THEY ARE
THINKING AND FEELING, WHAT DID THEY SAY?
>> YEAH. AMHERST IS REALLY INTERESTING.
I WOULD SAY IF THERE IS A CURVE OF LIKE PROGRESS IN TERMS OF
MAKING REAL INROADS INTO CHANGING THE SITUATION, I WOULD
PUT AMHERST AT THE FRONT OF THAT CURVE RIGHT NOW FOR OUR REGION.
THE AMHERST DISTRICT HAS COMBINED THEIR HUMAN RESOURCES
DEPARTMENT WITH THEIR DIVERSITY AND EQEQUITY DEPARTMENT.
IT IS ONE UNIT. IT IS RUN BY BLACK AND LATINO
ADMINISTRATORS AND STAFF ENTIRELY.
SO GOING AND INTERVIEWING THEM ABOUT THIS STORY WAS A REAL
EDUCATION FOR ME IN TERMS OF, ONE, THE CHANGES THAT THEY ARE
TRULY MAKING, BUT ALSO THEIR TRUE WILLINGNESS TO IDENTIFY
PROBLEMS THAT ARE GOING ON IN THEIR DISTRICT AND IF I HAD TO
CHARACTERIZE MY -- WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO INTERVIEW THE OTHER
DISTRICTS, I WOULD SAY THAT THERE'S MORE OF A, YES, WE AGREE
THIS IS VERY MUCH AN ISSUE. WE KIND OF HAVE IT FIGURED OUT.
WE ARE DOING OUR BEST. THAT SORT OF STANCE WHEREAS
AMHERST IS THE FIRST ONE TO SAY, THIS ISN'T WORKING AND WE HAVE
TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. AT LEAST THE ADMINISTRATORS I
SPOKE TO IN THAT DEPARTMENT. >> AND CERTAINLY THIS IS A LONG
STANDING CHALLENGE. I THINK YOU INTERVIEWED SOMEONE
WHO SAID THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE SINCE 1997 WHEN THEY WERE A
STUDENT. >> RIGHT.
>> DO WE HAVE ANY SENSE OF WHY THE CHANGE IS SO SLOW TO COME
HERE? >> HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL JUST
RELEASED A STORY THIS WINTER, I MEAN RELEASED RESEARCH THIS
WINTER THAT IDENTIFIED THE PRIMARY BARRIER TO INCREASING
THE TEACHER OF COLOR WORKFORCE AS BEING CONVINCING COLLEGE
STUDENTS THAT IT IS WORTHWHILE TO BECOME TEACHERS.
TO GETTING CANDIDATES INTO THE POOL TO BECOME CERTIFIED AS
TEACHERS. THAT IS WHERE -- OF COURSE,
THERE ARE ALL THESE OTHER HURDLES ALONG THE WAY.
IT IS A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM. THAT IS THE MAIN PROBLEM,
GETTING KIDS WHO -- GETTING YOUNG PEOPLE AT THIS POINT,
COLLEGE-AGE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BECOME TEACHERS.
WHY WOULD A BLACK PERSON OR A LATINO PERSON WHO HAS GONE
THROUGH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM CHOOSE THIS AS WHAT THEY WANT TO DO?
THE SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING SYSTEMICALLY FOR BLACK AND
LATINO KIDS IN THE AREA. >> I KNOW YOU ALSO LOOKED AT THE
MASSACHUSETTS EDUCATION COMMISSIONER IS LOOKING AT SOME
OF THOSE SYSTEMIC ISSUES THAT ARE GETTING IN THE WAY OF
GETTING THESE TEACHERS, THOSE PEOPLE WHO DO SAY, I'M
INTERESTED IN BECOMING A TEACHER, THERE'S PROBLEMS OF
GETTING THEM CERTIFIED TO BECOME TEACHERS.
HE IS LOOKING AT PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM, RIGHT?
IS >> ABSOLUTELY.
IT IS CALLED A TEACHER PIPELINE. ONCE YOU HAVE PEOPLE IN THE
PIPELINE IN TRAINING PROGRAMS AND SUCH, THERE ARE FURTHER
IMPEDIMENTS. UP WITH -- ONE IS TESTING.
ONE IS THE COST OF TESTING WHICH IS A REAL IMPEDIMENT FOR A LOT
OF PEOPLE. THERE ARE A LOT OF TESTS.
YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY, IF YOU DON'T PASS
IT, YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT AGAIN.
ONE OF THE THINGS COMMISSIONER RILEY IS TRYING TO WORK WITH AS
A SOLUTION IS GETTING TO THE POINT THAT CANDIDATES CAN PASS
TEACHER LICENSING TESTS ON SKILLS AND NOT PURELY ON A POINT
GRADE ON A TEST. BECAUSE WHAT THEY ARE FOCUS ON
IS WHETHER A TEACHER IS WORKING IN THE CLASSROOM.
TEACHERS OF COLOR CAN BRING SOMETHING TO THE CLASSROOM THAT
A WHITE TEACHER SCORING TERRIFICALLY ON THE TEST JUST
CAN'T BRING. >> BEN JAMES IS A FREELANCE
JOURNALIST WHO LIVES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS.
HIS LATEST THREE-PART SERIES WAS FOR NEW ENGLAND PUBLIC RADIO AND
IT IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT NEPR.NET.