KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Allegations that Kalamazoo Public Schools officials aren’t doing enough to promote black educators into upper management drew a sharp response from the Superintendent Dr. Rita Raichoudhuri at the district’s Board of Education meeting this week.
NAACP Branch President Wendy Fields complained to the board last night that there has been an exodus of black employees since Dr. Raichoudhuri was hired.
But the superintendent says that just isn’t true. Se told trustees the new director of Elementary Education, the Chief of Security, and the directors she appointed to the English Language Program, Career Pathways, and Food Services are all black. In addition, four of the five new elementary Assistant Principals are black.
Raichoudhuri said she just wanted to set the record straight.
A National Center for Educational Statistics survey found that just 2% of the nation’s teachers were black males in 2017, and they say its dropped even lower because of the pandemic to 1.7%, constricting the pool for candidates to promote.
The district has begun several programs to provide incentives and encouragement for students to go into the profession, with a focus on candidates of color, but school officials say it may be years before they are ready for the classroom.
(reporting from John McNeill)
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