IF THE TEACHERS OF COLOR AT YOUR SCHOOL ARE INVISIBLE TO YOU, WHY WOULD THEY STAY?
I reread it slower this time, an email sent to 40+ staff members with the subject line, Congrats and Great Work, from my principal. The email was a glowing account of one of my colleagues’ recent accomplishments: wrote a grant … new outdoor classroom … dedication … significant contributions to our school community. While I realized all those statements were true and my colleague deserved this recognition, as a teacher of color, I was also hurt and perplexed. Why do such mass acknowledgements and effusive praise only accompany the victories of my white colleagues?
I left that job this year. Was it because my work was constantly being rendered invisible? Yes, that was part of the reason.
Within the same timeframe, I had also achieved a myriad of successes: presenting at a national conference, organizing and leading an off-campus leadership experience for students, co-creating and implementing a schoolwide literacy approach, publishing an interdisciplinary literacy newsletter, leading a parent/staff diversity book club, being nominated for History Teacher of the Year. Yet, I’d never had so much as a personal email or note in my CONTINUE READING: If the Teachers of Color at Your School Are Invisible to You, Why Would They Stay? - Philly's 7th Ward
