'A huge first step': How Valley Stream District 24 is building a minority teacher pipeline

Away from his usual desk obligations, Valley Stream District 24 Superintendent Unal Karakas, was on a head-hunting mission in Washington D.C. last month. He chose perhaps the best place in town to find the greatest concentration of well-educated minority teaching candidates: a career fair at Howard University.

Fresh from last month’s in-person visit, Karakas believes the trip was a success and a crucial first step in moving the needle to a goal of particular concern to his district: making its nearly all-white teaching force more representative of its racially and ethnically diverse student body.

At Valley Stream District 24, the demographic mismatch between students and teachers over the past two decades paints a jarring picture.

The Takeaway

• Valley Stream District 24 Superintendent Unal Karakas spearheads a mission to diversify the district's teaching staff, recognizing the importance of representation for its ethnically diverse student body.
• Karakas attended a career fair at Howard University, actively engaging with teaching candidates and emphasizing the district's commitment to diversity to establish a direct pipeline for minority teaching candidates.
• Research indicates that classrooms with racially and ethnically diverse teachers yield positive outcomes for all students, particularly those of color. 

In 2000, 72 percent of students in Valley Stream District 24, according to state education department data, were white. In just over two decades, that number has dropped to 13 percent. Latino and Hispanic students have replaced white students as the largest demographic cohort, but only roughly 3 percent of teachers identify as such.

What education experts describe as disheartening statistical realities seemed to serve as a wake-up call for Karakas, who has pushed the district’s comfort zone in a way that has begun to forge a more direct pipeline for minority teaching candidates. He is literally making this personal. He was at Howard University shaking hands, and fielding people’s questions one by one, face-to-face. His presence, at least at that fair, was a rare treat.

“Valley Stream 24 was the only school district in the tri-state area that was represented there,” said Karakas.

Interacting with Howard candidates, Karakas was delighted by the sheer number of them who expressed a strong level of commitment to finding a workplace that values diversity and the impact they as teachers of color can make by representing minority students.

Why do experts care about diverse teachers?

While conventional wisdom has often held fast to the notion that a teacher’s credentials and teaching skills matter irrespective of race or ethnicity, a growing body of research suggests that ignoring background and identity comes with a cost. 

Classrooms with a more racially and ethnically diverse teaching corps show improvements in a range of outcomes for students, both white and non-white, but the benefits are especially pronounced for students of color.

Black students with a Black teacher in the classroom, or even in the same grade, tended to show fewer suspensions and disciplinary issues, better attendance rates, and higher test scores.

“We take diversity seriously, and I think the candidates could sense that. They were blown away by, you know, our mission and vision,” said Karakas. “It was an opportunity we wouldn’t have had if we weren’t down there.”

Candidates were given guidelines on how to apply through the district’s website and Karakas said he intends to send a message blast reminding candidates about the offerings at Valley Stream District 24, using the contact information he jotted down. The rest is a wait-and-see game, making note of which candidates decide to ultimately apply to the district once job vacancies are posted. 

What's next?

The work is far from over. Karakas said his next steps are to make this career fair visit at Howard an ongoing tradition, plus branching out to other historically black colleges and universities as well as those closer to home with large minority teaching talent.

ERASE Racism President Laura Harding and a Howard alum said Karakas’ efforts are commendable.

“What the Valley Stream 24 Superintendent did was huge as an important first step,” she said. It’s not a cure-all to ensuring a school district is culturally competent enough to retain diversity hires, noted Hardin, but it sends a clear message about a district’s openness. It’s also leagues away better than the traditional passive, online approach.

Those candidates that Karakas networked with could serve as “ambassadors” for other students who one day may take them up on their recommendation to apply to the district thus strengthening the pipeline, noted Harding.

Building the diversity pipeline takes everyone

Harding hopes Karakas has set an example for other districts to follow but contends the onus of retaining minority teachers shouldn’t be left solely in the hands of individual school districts.

In Long Island’s high-priced housing market, Harding argues that policymakers should move to make subsidy housing programs available for new teachers laden with significant college debt, especially those out-of-state and often far from the support of their families.

Young professionals who would otherwise be locked out of the housing market need support, said Harding. Greater emphasis should also be put on streamlining the process for out-of-state teachers to transfer their licenses in New York.

And there is of course dealing with the culture shock of Long Island. For students and even co-workers who’ve had limited interactions working or learning under minority hires in positions of leadership, extra attention should be paid to paving pathways for minorities to assume positions of authority. That also means making sure minority hires feel valued, accepted, and respected in the adopted communities they serve.

“Because students of color haven’t interacted with teachers who look like them in positions of power, positions that reflect competence and intelligence, they have no personal role model that reflects them. Someone they can point to and say this older, respected person is capable, and therefore, I too can be capable,” said Harding. “It can also hurt white students who’ve had a limited perception of their non-White peers and often turn to warped depictions of minorities as shown on TV or in media for guidance.”

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