Push to increase number of Latino educators in Massachusetts

BOSTON — Lorena Munoz remembers growing up in Chicago and attending a school with many students who looked just like her.

“That was weird because I was like ‘Okay well I’m looking around these are mostly just Mexican kids, so why are all my teachers white?” she recalls.

The experience is among the reasons why she’s studying to become an elementary school teacher at Boston College.

“I have to go to college to be able to do this for myself or for my community, so then I could come back and be one of those Hispanic teachers that no students can see themselves in,” she said.

Lorena’s experience isn’t unique, in fact, Boston-based Latinos for Education says nationally 9% of all teachers are Hispanic, and 27 percent of the K-12 population is made up of Latino students.

The Roche Center for Catholic Education at BC also found that 9% of Catholic school educators are Hispanic and as of 2020 1 in 5 Catholic school students are Hispanic.

“We know that there was a time when in many parts of the United States of America, Hispanic children were not welcomed in their schools. Their families were looked down on because they spoke Spanish or because they looked Mexican or Caribbean,” said Associate Professor Hosffman Ospino at BC. Ospino was behind the study along with Melodie Wyttenbach. Wyttenbach is the Executive Director at the Roche Center.

Their research also reveals why it’s so important to have Latino teachers.

“They’re kind of people who build bridges, in part because they’re connecting families to different resources. Maybe they’re serving as translators or interpreters for the school community,” said Wyttenbach of Hispanic teachers, “they have these assets that are necessary to really make families feel at home, to feel welcome, to feel like this is where they belong.”

They say the way to get more diverse educators in classrooms is a more diverse student body in higher education.

“I think part of that invitation begins with kind of selecting a diverse class of students and really creating opportunities for them to get into fields that will allow them to thrive and grow as leaders,” said Wyttenbach.

“The more students we have, the more these children will fall in love with the idea of being educated in these particular settings,” added Ospino.

Both researchers say 37% of this year’s freshman class at Boston College is AHANA. That stands for African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American. They also add that BC’s College of Education is the most diverse on campus.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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