Education advocates say Long Island schools are in need of more teachers of color.
Dafny Irizarry, the president of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association, spoke at a Hofstra University conference last week.
“There is value for the minority students and for the non-minority students. They still deserve a diverse group of teachers so they can be better prepared when they go into the world, and they do interact with a diverse world.”
Irizarry says school boards need to be explicit about teacher diversity. She also says students of color should be encouraged to explore teaching as a career path.
More than 90% of teachers in Long Island public schools are white, but nearly half of students are people of color. Many schools don’t even have one black or Latino teacher.
