Equity & Diversity Video

A Black Male Educator From Virginia on What He’s Faced in the School Building

By Jaclyn Borowski — June 25, 2021 4:50
A student at Crosby High School works in class in Waterbury, Conn. on Nov. 2, 2019. While students in the Waterbury public school district are predominantly black and Hispanic, the vast majority of its educators, as in school districts across the country, are white.

For Gemayel Hazard, a black male teacher in Alexandria, Va., his early interactions teaching in a school that lacked a diverse faculty led him to seek out a school with a principal who looked like him and could understand what his experiences were like in the classroom. Here, he discusses the many challenges that remain in the education system, and the importance of diversity in everything from hiring practices to school leadership.

Jaclyn Borowski is the director of photography and videography for Education Week.

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