KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Education (DESE) is investing in the growth of diverse teachers in schools.
DESE, in partnership with the Latinx Education Collaborative, awarded scholarships to five Latinx students pursuing education at Avila University. The students each received $3,000 to further their teaching endeavors.
“Our mission is to increase representation of latino educators in K-12,” said Edgar Palacios, the founder, president and CEO of Latinx Education Collaborative.
According to the LEC, roughly 30% of students in the Kansas City area are Latino. But when we look at teacher demographics in the area, only 1% of teachers are Latino.
“We know that when students see themselves in teachers that serve them, they have better educational outcomes and experiences," Palacios said. “Let’s say a Latino kindergarten student walks into a classroom and they immediately connect with a Latino teacher. Maybe they speak Spanish, maybe they’re used to sharing the same foods, or listening to the same music or something — that connection point is really powerful and it creates a very different educational experience for our students.”
So leaders in education are working to close that gap. Palacios says the scholarships are a start in addressing historical barriers.
“Access to scholarship dollars, access to schools — understanding the different schools that are available and different pathways to get in to teaching," Palacios said. "Also I think we have some narratives around teaching that we need to shift."
Leaders in education hope initiative like this will help create a pipeline for Latino teachers and lead them to positions of leadership as well.
“It’s difficult to have Latino administrators in schools if you don’t have Latino teachers right?” Palacios said. “Like any good working environment, you have to create space for folks that have been often unheard, or have been often dismissed or overlooked. And so that’s what we’re working on.”
Palacios says his biggest concern going forward, if the lack of representation in our schools continues, is it would perpetuate cycles of poverty and Latino students would continue to feel overlooked and dismissed as members of the community.
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