I shared some hearfelt thoughts on Adriana Kuch’s suicide on Tuesday morning, Save Jerseyans, and the need to reexamine public education from top-to-bottom. Discipline. Culture. Choice. Priorities.
Unbeknownst to me, but I can’t say I’m surprised, NJ.com was simultaneously going in a different direction.
Check out this headline (top, front and center on the homepage):
Racial clickbait?
Sure. That and “pizza list” clickbait is about all you can expect from NJ.com in 2023:
In a state known for its diversity, almost half of New Jersey public schools lack a Black teacher; nearly 3 in 10 do not have a Hispanic teacher; and more than half do not have any Asian ones, according to an NJ Advance Media analysis of state data for the 2020-21 school year.
The hiring of teachers of color is slow to keep pace with the state’s increasing diversity for a host of reasons, including fewer diverse candidates, barriers to certification, and staffing cuts. Almost 60% of the state’s student population is Hispanic, Black, or Asian. Yet, only 17% of teachers are. As a result, New Jersey is tied with Delaware for the second-largest diversity gap between teachers and students nationwide, after California.
The question no one at NJ.com will ask is… who gives a fuck?
Unless there’s evidence that some racist super is receiving black or brown resumes and subsequently throwing them in the trash on the basis of color, then why is this an issue? For any serious person? I suspect the “barriers to certification” observation relates to alleged economic barriers as opposed to any law, rule, regulation or process anywhere on the books that benefits white teachers.
Why, perhaps more to the point, is the quality of a child’s education tied to the skin color of his or her teacher?
Things aren’t improving for our children because the Left (represented by NJ.com) cares about the wrong stuff. It’s really that simple.
