As a someone who spent 13 years in the East Hampton Union Free School District, I have had almost 100 teachers across all my classes. Shockingly, only 4 of them were people of color. My experience is not the exception, but rather the rule at EHUFSD. Despite existing in a majority non-white community and having a majority non-white student body, only a small handful of teachers at EHUFSD are people of color. This is not only an issue of representation, but an issue of equal educational opportunity. Researchers have found a strong positive link between same-race teachers and educational outcomes. Thus, not having a population of teachers that reflects the student body is a plain disregard for the needs of non-white students, and should be looked upon shamefully. 

When the East Hampton School Board was confronted with this problem at the June 2020 board meeting, they cited "geographic difficulties" in the hiring of POC teachers. However, the vast majority of EHUFSD teachers are commuters, and I find it hard to believe that there are not qualified POC candidates for teaching positions within commuting distance who could be recruited to EHUFSD. I have made this petition to show the EHUFSD, the East Hampton Teacher's Association, and the East Hampton School Board that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed, and to encourage all three groups to make acquiring minority teachers a top priority in the hiring process. Show your support and sign this petition.