on behalf of beth wolde :)

Everyone is thinking it: systemic racism must be dismantled. But how can we address this problem more locally? One way is in our very own classrooms. As conversations progress about how each individual can take accountability for their own actions in how they perpetuate racism, no stone must be left unturned. Teachers are key figures in the development of the future generation, so when their unconscious biases actively harm their students of color, they must be held accountable. 

Teachers and school faculty staff must be engaged in bias training in order to keep their licenses. Staff must be accountable for their use of coded language and how tactics that harm their students. Students have noticed the racial disparities in AP/GT classrooms and in the school staff. Students of color' voices are often minimized in these classrooms as their white counterparts dominate the conversation. Teachers must be taught to amplify their students of color' voices. We must also ask why students of color are suspended/expelled more often than their white classmates in a way that doesn't solely blame the student, we must dig deeper. It does not end with how teachers treat their students. The workplace environment must be scrutinized as well. In their bias training, they must address how they treat their colleagues of color and ways in which the school will hire more black/POC teachers because representation matters.