As New Hampshire lawmakers examine ways to recruit and retain public school teachers, the state’s DEIJ directors say the lack of existing racial diversity among New Hampshire school employees can be a barrier to further diversifying the field.
At a meeting of the joint legislative Committee to Study Teacher Shortages and Recruitment Incentives on Nov. 3, New Hampshire school DEIJ directors from Manchester, Exeter and Oyster River discussed the challenges of hiring and retaining teachers of color in the Granite State. The Committee was created through a bill that was signed by the governor in June, and is currently studying the problem of teacher staffing shortages in New Hampshire, the many potential causes and potential solutions.
About 98% of New Hampshire public school teachers are white, according to the most recent federal data available, which is from 2017-2018, and for school principals, that percentage is even higher. By contrast, Hampshire’s public school student population is more racially diverse – about 83% white, according to 2021 NH Department of Education data. This means many New Hampshire students of color go through the public school system with few teachers and mentors that look like them.
Andres Mejia, DEIJ director in the Exeter School District, told committee lawmakers that the importance of representation is not just about seeing a teacher who looks like the students, but having someone who can listen and understand the experiences of students of color.
“I’ve had students who are seniors who have broken down crying within five to 10 minutes because they never ever had a person of color sit and understand where they were coming from,” said Mejia, who started his role in August 2021. “This kind of understanding of ‘I feel you,’ and ‘I hear you,’ they never had that kind of representation.”
The lack of teacher diversity is one that many school districts have been examining and vowing to improve in recent years, with Concord’s racial equity task force naming it one of their priorities. But the DEIJ directors say it’s challenging because the lack of teacher diversity is one of the barriers to improving it.
Rachael Blansett, DEIJ Coordinator for the Oyster River School District, told lawmakers that while recruiting teachers of color is achievable through funding incentives, professional development resources and mentorship programs, retaining them can be much more challenging, once the teachers start to experience what it’s like to be one of so few employees of color in the workplace.
“Even if people are well-meaning or well-intentioned, the actual insulated environment and culture that many educators of color or people of color have to navigate is very challenging and difficult,” Blansett said.
Mejia added that the isolation doesn’t necessarily stop at the end of the work day, when many majority-white New Hampshire communities lack culturally-diverse community gathering spaces, hair services, food and music.
“Not only are we having educators come to teach in a school where they don’t see themselves in leadership roles or in the students, they also have to leave that school and go to another space where they also don’t see themselves,” Mejia said.
Mejia suggested that potential solutions for supporting teachers of color in New Hampshire could look like giving them extra paid time off to go visit family and more diverse communities, providing gas cards if they have to travel extra distances to obtain a haircut or specific cultural foods, and paying for them to attend conferences with other teachers of color and DEIJ directors from other states.
Tina Philibotte, chief equity officer for the Manchester School District, said that New Hampshire’s “Freedom from Discrimination in Education” law also creates an unappealing environment for teachers of color looking to move to the state.
The law, which critics have dubbed the “banned concepts law,” restricts how educators can teach about racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. While the law doesn’t explicitly ban teaching about racism, critics say its vagueness has a chilling effect that leads teachers to avoid the discussing historical impacts of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination due to a fear of losing their teacher license if they run afoul of the law. The law is currently the subject of two lawsuits filed by educators; Philibotte and Mejia are plaintiffs in one of them.
“In terms of retention, in terms of recruitment, the law makes it real hard, not just for educators of color but for any educator to stay in this work and to come to this city,” Philibotte said.
Concord School District hired its new DEIJ director, Quinci Worthey, last week, bringing the number of public school DEIJ administrators up to four. The Lebanon School District is currently seeking a DEIJ director, and the Bow School District has also expressed interest in hiring one.
While there may be just a few of these positions in the state, their work is in high demand. All three DEIJ directors who addressed the legislative committee said that they’re frequently contacted by parents and superintendents outside their districts, seeking advice regarding racial bias incidents or how to improve their own DEI efforts. Philibotte estimated she gets 3 to 4 calls every week from people outside her district.
The directors said they frequently get together to discuss their roles, and they seek support from DEIJ directors in Massachusetts and other states as well.
“Even though we have each other, we are alone in our districts,” Mejia said. “It’s only us doing that work.”