The importance of questioning the status quo

We do not always need to accept things as they are, especially as people of color. When we see an opportunity to improve access to a better quality of life, we should feel compelled to ask questions and seek solutions.

As a parent of four and a parent advocate for public school children in Connecticut, I have spent the last decade asking questions about how our public schools can better educate all children, particularly students of color. Forty-six percent of Connecticut’s students identify as people of color. In the last five years, we have seen a 5 percent increase in African American and Latinx students. We must ensure our schools are making the necessary changes to respond to these shifting demographics.

While the demographics of our students are rapidly changing, the demographics of our educators are not. In the 2017-18 school year, less than 9 percent of Connecticut’s teachers identified as people of color, with a less than 1 percent increase in the past decade. We must ask ourselves ‘why’ and how can we change this?

As a black mom, I worry that the gap between what we say to our children and what we show them is expanding. If we tell our kids that they can be anything they want to be, but we never let them see a living example of that, it is difficult to connect the dots. Research has shown that when students of color are taught by a teacher of the same race, their academic outcomes are better and they stay in school longer. Our children need to see role models standing in front of them each day that look like them.

To do this, we must be intentional. Our schools, particularly those that educate our future educators, need to be intentional about recruiting, training, and retaining educators of color. We can look to examples like the Relay Graduate School of Education, which is building community partnerships and working with school leaders to find the right people to be in the classroom while also removing financial barriers by ensuring aspiring teachers can earn a salary while pursuing their certification.

Having more teachers of color in our classrooms will not solve all the issues that challenge our public school system. We must continue to ask questions and seek solutions about what more we can do to ensure equitable outcomes for our students — from providing more resources to engaging parents to change outdated policies that hold marginalized children back.

Imagine if we can raise a generation of children of color who are not only able to dream that they can be anything they want to be but are able to see their dream standing in front of their classroom every day.