By Michael Elsen-Rooney and Julian Shen-Berro

For her first few years in New York City’s public school system, Kai Kraft thought she was “the only Asian kid in the Bronx.”

Through elementary and middle school, she had teachers from diverse backgrounds — but none who identified as Asian American or Pacific Islander.

And as a result, Kraft, who is Filipino American, often didn’t feel comfortable confiding in her teachers when she experienced discrimination from her peers.

“I let a lot of casual racism slide, even until middle school, because I didn’t have anyone to look up to or tell me that it was wrong,” she said. “I just had to endure it.”

Today, Kraft is a high school senior at the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics. Since transitioning to high school in Manhattan and joining the Asian American Student Advocacy Project, a program run by the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, she has found other Filipino and Asian American students among her peers.

But Kraft has encountered relatively few Asian American or Pacific Islander teachers — and none who identify as Filipino American.

“I still struggle to find teachers that I can relate to,” she said.

There’s evidence that employing teachers of color can result in improved test scores and graduation rates among students of color, while also being associated with lower rates of chronic absenteeism and suspension, according to a 2019 report from the state’s Education Department. Staffers who share the specific racial or ethnic background of their students may be better able to forge connections that benefit kids academically and emotionally, educators, researchers, and students said.

But as the Asian American share of New York City’s student population has continued to grow, the percentage of Asian American educators has lagged far behind. (City data does not provide specific numbers for students who identify as Pacific Islander.)

To read the entire article: https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/02/27/few-asian-american-teachers-in-nyc-schools-despite-high-student-population/

Photo credit: James Jiao/Shutterstock