The Board of Directors of Community Alliance of Lane County would like to express our concern about the current situation at the University’s College of Education. Students of color, as well as LGBTQ students and students with disabilities, find the learning environment at the college to be hostile, and they believe it is risky to bring forward their observations and complaints.
The staff and curriculum at the college are failing to prepare teachers, counselors and administrators to teach and work with increasingly diverse populations in our public schools. Multicultural education is extremely limited, and an overwhelmingly mono-cultural faculty is not equipped to prepare culturally competent future educators. This situation continues despite a college policy that calls for the infusion of culturally diverse perspectives in all the courses offered.
The College of Education currently has a number of faculty openings. This is an opportunity for the college to make a significant transition toward cultural inclusiveness. We hope the college will hold these
positions open until qualified
candidates of diverse cultural
backgrounds can be hired. We particularly support the idea of “cluster” hires so that a change in the learning environment at the College of Education can occur.
Until the supply of new teachers includes more educators of color, and until new teachers of all backgrounds are culturally competent, our local districts are greatly hampered in their efforts to close the achievement gap and otherwise provide an equitable and culturally relevant education to all their students.
Carol Van Houten
Chairperson, CALC Board of Director