Tell Lawmakers: Strengthen and Diversify the NY Teaching Profession!

Tell state lawmakers: invest in teacher recruitment and retention strategies to strengthen and diversify the profession.

Research consistently shows that diverse educators have powerful academic and social-emotional impacts on all students, and especially for students of color. Yet diverse teachers remain significantly underrepresented in our workforce.

To meet the needs of New York’s increasingly diverse student population, state lawmakers must act. Albany should establish and fully fund Underrepresented Teachers of Tomorrow and Bilingual Teachers of Tomorrow Initiatives to recruit, support, and retain certified teachers in schools with shortages of diverse educators.

Furthermore, lawmakers should create a statewide Educator Diversity Task Force to study current gaps, recommend solutions, and ensure long-term accountability.

New York cannot ignore the growing diversity gap between our students and our teachers. Every student deserves to see themselves reflected in the adults leading their classrooms. And the barriers preventing underrepresented educators from entering and staying in the profession must be dismantled.