Education Week - May 10, 2017 - 27

LETTERS to
the EDITOR
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

The Met's progressive education approach, we still
very much follow the traditional school hierarchy of
teachers and staff reporting to the administration and
following directives and mandates from above.
I see the shift toward greater shared decisionmaking
and reduced reliance on a traditional hierarchy of
authority as the next big district innovation. This shift
to teacher-led schools is the type of leadership I hope to
contribute to in the future.
Impact Academy's principal noted that because she is
accountable to the teachers in her teacher-led school,
she strives "to be a leader I would have wanted to work
for when I was a teacher." As a future school leader, this
is something I must never forget. I believe a teacher-led
school supported by a strong instructional leader is the
optimal learning environment for students and staff
alike.
To this end, I believe that the Teacher-Powered Schools
Initiative goal, referenced in the article, to have a
teacher-led school within the reach of any interested
educator in the next 30 years will help make the shift
to great schools across all areas of the country.
Tim Shannon
Advisor
The Metropolitan Career and Technical Center
Providence, R.I.

Black Educators Benefit All Students
To the Editor:
Thank you for your affirming, empowering, and
thoughtful article, "Black Teachers Make a Difference,"
(April 18, 2017). As an African-American male who
has been teaching high school for over 20 years, I
am fully aware of the need for black students to see
themselves and their stories reflected in their daily
experience. Black teachers are a constant reminder
that black success is not an exception, but rather, the
rule. Moreover, white students also benefit from being
taught by black educators. Sadly, too many white
students have limited exposure to black knowledge and
competence.
Diversifying the nation's teaching force benefits
all students. Administrators and school leaders
everywhere must make teacher diversity a top priority.
Julian Kenneth Braxton
Director of Community and Multicultural Affairs
History Faculty
The Winsor School
Boston, Mass.

'Domino Effect' Could Attract
More Teachers of Color
To The Editor:
The article "For Male Educators of Color, a Shoulder
to Lean On" (April 26, 2017) addresses a topic of
discussion that is desperately needed. Given that
students of color are the majority demographic group
in public schools but the teaching population consists
of only 2 percent Latino male teachers, less than
2 percent African-American male teachers, and a
half-percent of Asian male teachers, this is a crisis.
In order to encourage more teachers of color to enter
the profession, time and effort need to be devoted
to recruitment and retention. The presence of male
teachers and principals of color in a school is important
to recruiting other men of color.
As the Boston program described in the article
demonstrates, networking and sharing of success is
an avenue for this work to take place. Through better
networking, districts can contribute by making sure
they understand the needs of male teachers of color,
along with making sure that the district has invested
sufficient time and energy in cultural competence.
As a Latina principal-in-training, I feel it is my
duty to make sure that I serve as a coach and mentor
to other educators of color. I am mentoring a Latina
college senior who plans on pursuing a career in
education and with whom I have much in common-
we both have come from a strict upbringing, have
navigated two different cultures, and endured bullying
from students and teachers.
If I could reach more potential educators and help
them commit to and be happy with the profession, I
believe there would be a domino effect that could yield
positive results. We have to take the lead from Boston
and make sure that other cities follow suit. This should
be a movement.
Janet Villanueva-Williams
Principal-in-Training
The Metropolitan Career and Technical Center
Providence, R.I.

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COMMENTARY
Check out the online-only Commentaries you missed during
Education Week's publishing break, including Harvard psychologist
Richard Weissbourd's essay "Teaching Students to Talk Across
the Aisle." Educators Web Hutchins and Megan Heubeck call for
the teaching of civics in "Make Mock Elections Mandatory." And
advocate Mimi Corcoran argues in "What's Ahead for Students With
Learning Disabilities" that the U.S. Supreme Court and the White
House are sending students and their families mixed messages.

It's impossible to catch
every session at AERA,
the nation's largest
annual education
research conference,
but Education Week's
Elizabeth Rich and
Sarah D. Sparks discuss
some of the buzz from the
98th annual conference.

www.edweek.org/go/aera17
Education Week Teacher asked teachers on
Twitter for their worst professional-development
experiences. They had a lot to say.

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Education Week - May 10, 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - May 10, 2017
