My plan(s) to increase the number of Black teachers in Madison and Dane County

There are so many factors that affect any one teacher of color. You cannot pick one single thing that can be “fixed.” Policies that keep teachers of color in the district are not complicated.

First and foremost - increasing teacher pay. We need to support teachers in being able to teach instead of working a second job. This is very important to recognize and understand that teachers of color starting in the workforce do not just have nuclear family structures to support, they typically are financially responsible for extended family members. We do what we must to get out of generational poverty.

Second we need to create policy at the school board level that requires teachers and administrators to collaborate more on school and district policies, curriculum and the operations of their school.

We also need to: 
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• Hire and support a significant number of millennial teachers of color so that no one comes to a school alone. Do cluster hires having these teachers  prepare for MMSD at the same time and come into the schools at the same time. We need more than a couple of teachers of color with compatible views about teaching and pedagogy at a school order to create a support network that will last. 
• Learn from real world examples of school districts that are able to retain teachers of color in majority white cities.
• Conduct exit surveys for those teachers of color who leave the district
• Work with the district and city to find policy solutions that address issues that teachers of color who have left the district  identify. 
• ​Create a teacher forum on the board where teachers discuss school board policy related issues,  identify examples of excellence in their own school and have meaningful avenues to work in partnership with administration to effect policy changes in their school.