Men of color are missing from education. My Brother’s Keeper Newark is looking to change that.

My Brother’s Keeper Newark (MBKN), an initiative of Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN), and Reclaiming Our Crowns hosted a Male Educators of Color Happy Hour at Launch Pad in downtown Newark on Thursday. Educators, administrators and advocates gathered together, representing public, private and charter schools from across the state.

“These men often feel isolated from larger networks of like-minded brothers who share their same experiences. We hope this event - and others that will follow - will help end some of those silos and help us build upon Newark’s community of male educators of color,” said Mark Comesañas, Executive Director of My Brother’s Keeper Newark. 

According to the New Jersey Department of Education, students of color make up 56 percent of the population while teachers of color only include 16 percent of the teacher workforce (2019), with Black teachers at 6.4 percent, Latino teachers at 7.2 percent, and Asian teachers at 2 percent. Yet, a 2018 report from the Learning Policy Institute found that teachers of color boost students’ academic performance, improve reading and math test scores, improve graduation rates and increase student’s desire to attend college. Non-POC students also benefit from teacher diversity, as many reported feeling cared for and challenged academically.

“We know that students of color experience fewer unexcused absences, curbed chronic absenteeism, and less suspensions, just by having a teacher of color in the classroom,” said Robert Clark, Chief Executive Officer of NOYN. “Despite this fact, teachers of color, particularly male teachers of color, continue to be underrepresented in the classroom. Events like this will encourage more Black and Brown men to enter and persist in the work of education - and ultimately help prevent future youth disconnection.”

Despite the value men of color brings to the classroom, teacher turnover is especially high with male educators due to a variety of factors like dissatisfaction with administration; lack of mentoring or support, racial isolation and several other factors. However, Comesañas hopes to leverage MBKN to help address the gap.

“For MBK Newark, this Happy Hour event is just one tree in a larger forest of opportunities designed to recruit, train, and sustain more male educators of color. By gathering these men together to build a network of support, we hope to amplify men of color and their impact on all young people,” Comesañas said.