NYS schools need to do more to retain teachers of color, advocates say
Nakeshia Smith-Farnum, director of restorative practices and community engagement for the Valley Stream Central district, on Sept. 20. Credit: Danielle Silverman
Nakeshia Smith-Farnum has spent more than two decades in the Valley Stream Central High School district, working her way up from math teacher to department chair — to being named a districtwide administrator this year.
She credited the support from others for her promotion to the district's new director of Restorative Practices and Community Engagement.
“I felt like I was a part of the success of the district,” Smith-Farnum said. “But I also felt needed and wanted by everyone — by the leadership, by the teachers and by the students and their families. It felt like a community.”
A career trajectory such as the rise of Smith-Farnum, an educator of color, from teacher to district leader is what advocates and educators say is needed in more schools on Long Island and statewide. School officials should be seeking ways to boost not only hiring but the retention and promotion of educators of color, they said. A recent report by the New York Equity Coalition found a 9-percentage-point gap between the retention of Black teachers in the state and their white colleagues.
“There are two factors that make it difficult" retaining educators of color, said Brandy Scott, president of the Long Island Black Educators Association. "One is affordable housing. A lot of them are young people, and beginning salaries are not enough to sustain a single young professional on Long Island.
“And the second is the climate within a school district."
Teachers also sometimes leave before they are tenure-eligible because they see “the handwriting on the wall … Sometimes they feel the lack of support and feel they are being held to a higher standard,” Scott said.
The Equity Coalition analyzed retention efforts over a four-year period, from 2018 to 2022. It found that on Long Island, 12% of teachers in Nassau County are teachers of color, with 9% in Suffolk.
Over the past 20 years, students of color shifted from being the minority to the majority in 32 public school districts on Long Island, a Newsday analysis last year found. Overall, the Island's white student population fell to 44.4% in 2022-23, state records show.
The retention rate of all educators of color in Nassau is 80% and 84% in Suffolk, according to the analysis released this past summer, meaning that local school systems were able to keep that percentage of the small number of teachers of color on staff throughout the four-year period.
In Nassau over that period, the group found there is a 2-percentage-point gap between teachers of color (80%) and their white colleagues (82%). In Suffolk, the rate is the same, at 84%. However, data also showed a 5-percentage-point gap between Black educators and their white colleagues in Nassau and a 4-percentage-point gap in Suffolk.
A 2019 report from the state Education Department had similar results, finding that teachers of color are not retained at the same rate as white educators.
In addition, school leadership does not represent the racial and ethnic diversity of the student population in public schools, a September report by the same group found. More than half of students statewide attend a school without any school leaders of color, the group found.
“Educators of color face unique challenges that push them out of the profession. From becoming the go-to disciplinarians in their schools, to being asked to bridge cultural gaps for other colleagues and administrators, to outright prejudice, teachers of color shoulder an emotional toll that goes unrewarded," said Melanie Quiroz, senior research and data analyst, The Education Trust—New York. The Education Trust is part of the New York Equity Coalition, a student advocacy group comprised of civil rights, education, parent and business organizations.
Officials with the state Education Department said steps are being taken to close the gap.
In September, the department announced an award of more than $4 million to Eastern Suffolk BOCES to boost the workforce and increase teacher diversity. It also has awarded a $700,000 grant this year to Stony Brook University to add more diverse educators to the leadership of K-12 schools.
“Diverse educators bring different perspectives into the classroom, helping our students learn to respect and value other viewpoints, ultimately fostering a culture of tolerance and dignity," said Keshia Clukey, spokesperson for the state Education Department.
On Sept. 27, Brentwood, Long Island's largest school system, named Wanda Ortiz-Rivera, a bilingual administrator who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, interim superintendent. State records show that Brentwood's roughly 17,000-student body is nearly 90% Latino.
Still, educators of color can feel “isolated in a school district, especially in a district that is predominantly white … Changing the school climate is where districts need to focus,” Scott said. A lot of times — more often than not — they feel isolated in a district — especially a predominantly white district. And they feel as [if] there are more pressures put on them because they are a person of color."
Dafny Irizarry, president of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association, agreed, saying that "an important factor for retaining teachers of color is creating welcoming school cultures."
In Valley Stream Central, the district has instituted practices to make a diverse student body and staff feel supported, said Clifford Odell, the district’s assistant superintendent for Personnel and Administration. The New York State Report Card showed that the district enrolls a student body that includes 31% Black, 30% Hispanic or Latino and 23% Asian. According to the Equity Coalition, about 87% of the teachers there were white in 2021-22.
The school system has an above-average retention rate for teachers of color at 84%, the group found. The average four-year retention rate of teachers of color for districts statewide is 76%.
“I would agree that you put your efforts into recruitment, but if you don’t retain your talent, you are really spinning your wheels, and that doesn’t make sense,” Odell said.
When attending diversity job fairs, district officials go beyond just interviewing candidates, he said. "We volunteer additional evenings to work with diversity fair candidates to go over resume writing, interview skills and techniques, and how to be successful in your first year as a teacher or administrator," he said.
Department chairs teach for two periods a day and then work to support new and veteran staff the rest of the day. The district has launched several diversity initiatives that include focusing on a culturally responsive instructional program. A consultant group is working with the leadership team and staff to take a deep dive into the district's practices to ensure that all four schools are supportive and responsive.
“What a lot of teachers and students of color need to see is that the doors are open,” Smith-Farnum said.
The Jericho district, where student enrollment is nearly 70% Asian, hosted a diversity job fair in March to recruit staff.
"Our efforts have been successful — maybe not in terms of the numbers we would like to see — but we feel the job fairs have helped us in broadening the number of applicants we have," Superintendent Hank Grishman said.
According to data from the Equity Coalition, about 92% of the teachers there were white in 2021-22. The equity group found the district has an above-average retention rate for teachers of color, at 100%.
In August, Lakshmi Zawistowski, 35, started as a high school math teacher. She grew up in Syosset and still lives there.
“I'm Indian, and I never had a teacher that was Indian. In this community, as well as the community where I live, there's a very large Asian population,” she said. “And I think that it's fantastic for students — that that same diversity be reflected in the staff[ers] who are teaching these students. I really do think it makes a difference.”
She said she planned to make a long-term commitment to working in Jericho.
East Hampton Superintendent Adam Fine said his district has made hiring teachers of color a priority in recent years but that recruitment can be hindered by its East End location and the high cost of living there. Officials there have turned to the community, where they are hiring local young people as paraprofessionals and teaching assistants and then helping guide their careers as teachers. The district is about 60% Latino, with about 8% of its instructional staff being people of color, he said.
He said he would attend diversity job fairs but often would have no luck finding candidates for open positions.
"We have been trying to fill teaching spots and over the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult, but we had a good year last year after we switched to a homegrown approach," he said.
Nakeshia Smith-Farnum has spent more than two decades in the Valley Stream Central High School district, working her way up from math teacher to department chair — to being named a districtwide administrator this year.
She credited the support from others for her promotion to the district's new director of Restorative Practices and Community Engagement.
“I felt like I was a part of the success of the district,” Smith-Farnum said. “But I also felt needed and wanted by everyone — by the leadership, by the teachers and by the students and their families. It felt like a community.”
A career trajectory such as the rise of Smith-Farnum, an educator of color, from teacher to district leader is what advocates and educators say is needed in more schools on Long Island and statewide. School officials should be seeking ways to boost not only hiring but the retention and promotion of educators of color, they said. A recent report by the New York Equity Coalition found a 9-percentage-point gap between the retention of Black teachers in the state and their white colleagues.
WHAT TO KNOW
- School systems should be seeking ways to boost not only the hiring, but the retention and promotion of educators of color, educators and advocates say.
- A recent report by the New York Equity Coalition found a 9 percentage-point gap statewide between the retention rate of Black teachers and their white colleagues.
- School leadership also does not represent the racial and ethnic diversity of the student population in public schools statewide, according to the group.
“There are two factors that make it difficult" retaining educators of color, said Brandy Scott, president of the Long Island Black Educators Association. "One is affordable housing. A lot of them are young people, and beginning salaries are not enough to sustain a single young professional on Long Island.
“And the second is the climate within a school district."
Teachers also sometimes leave before they are tenure-eligible because they see “the handwriting on the wall … Sometimes they feel the lack of support and feel they are being held to a higher standard,” Scott said.
The Equity Coalition analyzed retention efforts over a four-year period, from 2018 to 2022. It found that on Long Island, 12% of teachers in Nassau County are teachers of color, with 9% in Suffolk.
Over the past 20 years, students of color shifted from being the minority to the majority in 32 public school districts on Long Island, a Newsday analysis last year found. Overall, the Island's white student population fell to 44.4% in 2022-23, state records show.
The retention rate of all educators of color in Nassau is 80% and 84% in Suffolk, according to the analysis released this past summer, meaning that local school systems were able to keep that percentage of the small number of teachers of color on staff throughout the four-year period.
In Nassau over that period, the group found there is a 2-percentage-point gap between teachers of color (80%) and their white colleagues (82%). In Suffolk, the rate is the same, at 84%. However, data also showed a 5-percentage-point gap between Black educators and their white colleagues in Nassau and a 4-percentage-point gap in Suffolk.
A 2019 report from the state Education Department had similar results, finding that teachers of color are not retained at the same rate as white educators.
In addition, school leadership does not represent the racial and ethnic diversity of the student population in public schools, a September report by the same group found. More than half of students statewide attend a school without any school leaders of color, the group found.
“Educators of color face unique challenges that push them out of the profession. From becoming the go-to disciplinarians in their schools, to being asked to bridge cultural gaps for other colleagues and administrators, to outright prejudice, teachers of color shoulder an emotional toll that goes unrewarded," said Melanie Quiroz, senior research and data analyst, The Education Trust—New York. The Education Trust is part of the New York Equity Coalition, a student advocacy group comprised of civil rights, education, parent and business organizations.
Officials with the state Education Department said steps are being taken to close the gap.
In September, the department announced an award of more than $4 million to Eastern Suffolk BOCES to boost the workforce and increase teacher diversity. It also has awarded a $700,000 grant this year to Stony Brook University to add more diverse educators to the leadership of K-12 schools.
“Diverse educators bring different perspectives into the classroom, helping our students learn to respect and value other viewpoints, ultimately fostering a culture of tolerance and dignity," said Keshia Clukey, spokesperson for the state Education Department.
On Sept. 27, Brentwood, Long Island's largest school system, named Wanda Ortiz-Rivera, a bilingual administrator who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, interim superintendent. State records show that Brentwood's roughly 17,000-student body is nearly 90% Latino.
Still, educators of color can feel “isolated in a school district, especially in a district that is predominantly white … Changing the school climate is where districts need to focus,” Scott said. A lot of times — more often than not — they feel isolated in a district — especially a predominantly white district. And they feel as [if] there are more pressures put on them because they are a person of color."
Dafny Irizarry, president of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association, agreed, saying that "an important factor for retaining teachers of color is creating welcoming school cultures."
In Valley Stream Central, the district has instituted practices to make a diverse student body and staff feel supported, said Clifford Odell, the district’s assistant superintendent for Personnel and Administration. The New York State Report Card showed that the district enrolls a student body that includes 31% Black, 30% Hispanic or Latino and 23% Asian. According to the Equity Coalition, about 87% of the teachers there were white in 2021-22.
The school system has an above-average retention rate for teachers of color at 84%, the group found. The average four-year retention rate of teachers of color for districts statewide is 76%.
“I would agree that you put your efforts into recruitment, but if you don’t retain your talent, you are really spinning your wheels, and that doesn’t make sense,” Odell said.
When attending diversity job fairs, district officials go beyond just interviewing candidates, he said. "We volunteer additional evenings to work with diversity fair candidates to go over resume writing, interview skills and techniques, and how to be successful in your first year as a teacher or administrator," he said.
Department chairs teach for two periods a day and then work to support new and veteran staff the rest of the day. The district has launched several diversity initiatives that include focusing on a culturally responsive instructional program. A consultant group is working with the leadership team and staff to take a deep dive into the district's practices to ensure that all four schools are supportive and responsive.
“What a lot of teachers and students of color need to see is that the doors are open,” Smith-Farnum said.
The Jericho district, where student enrollment is nearly 70% Asian, hosted a diversity job fair in March to recruit staff.
"Our efforts have been successful — maybe not in terms of the numbers we would like to see — but we feel the job fairs have helped us in broadening the number of applicants we have," Superintendent Hank Grishman said.
According to data from the Equity Coalition, about 92% of the teachers there were white in 2021-22. The equity group found the district has an above-average retention rate for teachers of color, at 100%.
In August, Lakshmi Zawistowski, 35, started as a high school math teacher. She grew up in Syosset and still lives there.
“I'm Indian, and I never had a teacher that was Indian. In this community, as well as the community where I live, there's a very large Asian population,” she said. “And I think that it's fantastic for students — that that same diversity be reflected in the staff[ers] who are teaching these students. I really do think it makes a difference.”
She said she planned to make a long-term commitment to working in Jericho.
East Hampton Superintendent Adam Fine said his district has made hiring teachers of color a priority in recent years but that recruitment can be hindered by its East End location and the high cost of living there. Officials there have turned to the community, where they are hiring local young people as paraprofessionals and teaching assistants and then helping guide their careers as teachers. The district is about 60% Latino, with about 8% of its instructional staff being people of color, he said.
He said he would attend diversity job fairs but often would have no luck finding candidates for open positions.
"We have been trying to fill teaching spots and over the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult, but we had a good year last year after we switched to a homegrown approach," he said.
Joie Tyrrell is a Long Island native and covers education for Newsday, where she has worked since 1998.
