AISD trustee highlights lack of diverse staff

During Monday’s board dialogue meeting about the school-to-prison pipeline, Austin Independent School District Trustee Paul Saldaña pointed out that AISD’s teacher demographics do not mirror its student demographics. He said that most students in AISD will not see a minority teacher, and “you can’t be what you can’t see.” Saldaña said there are more than 6,000 teachers in AISD, and fewer than 25 percent are minority teachers. Using a school from his District 6 as an example, he added that 72 percent of the teachers at Paredes Middle School are classified as white, but more than 90 percent of its students are classified as African-American or Hispanic. Saldaña said that the disparity is a specific outcome that the district has control over, and he encouraged diversity among staff as well as students.