LANSING, Mich. — About 60 Black educators accused the Lansing School District of forcing them out of a job. One of them was Claude Hogan.
Hogan said he worked in the district for about 8 years and said during his time, he was treated unfairly, and placed on leave without a reason, which led to him resigning.
“I left because of the stress and the anxiety I had every day, and they were intimidating,” he said.
Hogan along with the other educators, went to the organization One Love Global to get the word out.
“It’s important for us to help them,” said Sean Holland with One Love Global.
In 2022, the Lansing school district hired a third party to conduct an equity Audit for the district, these are the results: While the district offers Equity, diversity and Inclusion program, Black teachers feel they are more pressured to take part in it, than their white coworkers.
The study also found that Black students in the district are more likely to get in trouble.
“We’ve seen how the impact of not having Black teachers have played out on our students, in graduation rates, on enrollments, even the engagement of students and parents,” said Holland.
During Thursday’'s school board meeting, the educators spoke about their concerns and demanded change.
“We’re asking the district to look into their policies and procedure, make changes and reinstate these teachers they let go,” Holland said.
Lansing School Board President Rachel Willis called some of the allegations false and said the district is always looking for ways to hire more teachers of color.
“The teaching market isn't the best right now, so we’re trying to be innovative and add better things to our contracts,” she said. “We think it’s important to have teachers that look like the kids we serve.”
