NYC NOW - July 28, 2023 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: July 28, 2023

A lawsuit filed in New Jersey is looking to hold the state liable for its deeply segregated schools. Meanwhile, students of color face another challenge — they often don't see their own backgrounds reflected among the teachers responsible for educating them. WNYC’s Michael Hill talked with Catherine Carrera, bureau chief at Chalkbeat Newark, and Montclair Local Nonprofit News reporter Talia Wiener. And finally, Beyonce’s Renaissance tour lands at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium this weekend and that’s already having an effect on more than just ticket sales.

Good evening and welcome to NYC now. I'm Jenae Pierre for WNYC. Across New Jersey, many districts are facing a question. How to better integrate schools that are segregated when many towns and neighborhoods are still segregated. A pending lawsuit is looking to hold the state liable and spur policies to do something about it. Meanwhile, students of color face another challenge.

They often don't see their own backgrounds reflected among the teachers responsible for educating them. Catherine Carrera is a bureau chief at Chalkbeat Newark. Teach her diversity and bring about long-lasting positive benefits, which include improved attendance, test scores, and even the likelihood of taking an advanced course. Carrera teamed up with Talia Wiener, education reporter at Montclair Local Nonprofit News,

to speak to students of color in Essex County about their experiences in the classroom. The two talked with WNYC's Michael Hill about what they heard from those students. That conversation after the break. Catherine, you cover New Jersey's largest city. Black and Latino students there make up more than 90% of the student population in Newark, yet black and Latino teachers account for just about half the staff. What's behind that disparity?

Yes, we analyzed the most recent teacher and student demographic data and found that schools in Newark are pretty much split down the middle, serving mostly black students or mostly Latino students. but the teacher demographic majorities who teach them vary. And we saw that on a closer look, Latino students are more likely to be underrepresented in the teaching staff. And so when we talk about teacher diversity and this wide disparity, we have to look at how we got here. And that takes us to the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education in the effort to integrate schools, people who held on to racist, segregationist beliefs pushed back against the integration of school personnel.

And so this resistance led to widespread illegal firings, the motions of highly educated black teachers. And so that had this lasting effect on our country's public school system. But we also know through our reporting that it's not just about recruiting teachers of color, but also investing in retention. Catherine, also, what does the research say about representation in terms of a student's chances of success? Well, having teachers who students from diverse backgrounds can identify with racially and culturally is just one component of teacher and school quality. But teacher diversity decades of research has shown can bring about long-lasting positive benefits, which include

improved attendance, test scores, and even the likelihood of taking an advanced course. Talia, your reporting has focused on disparities in advanced placement classes, which gives students a leg up as they apply for and enter college. You found that even though Montclair's student population is about 50% white, nearly 70% of the students in AP classes are white, and then black and Latino kids are significantly underrepresented. What do the students tell you about why they think that happens? Yeah, so one student of color spoke to me about teachers, discourage. students from taking AP courses. She was sitting in class near the end of a school year, and her teacher asked who was considering taking AP classes that following year.

And several students of color did raise their hands right before the teacher launched into a speech warning of the challenges of the courses. The teacher went on to tell the students that AP courses would be a lot of work, that if students have a job after school or have to take care of siblings or help parents out, then then AP courses might not be a good fit for them. And the student I spoke with said she felt like all the kids that fit into those categories were BIPOC students, that her white classmates often didn't have to work and had the resources that afforded them time to devote to classwork. A week later, the teacher asked the same question, and only two students of color in the class,

including the student I spoke with, raised their hands. And the student told me it felt like the teacher was cheating these students. out of an opportunity that could go on their transcripts and could help them out in their futures. What did students of color in Montclair say about their experience in these AP classes? The students I spoke to say they just really struggle to find community in these classes, that they've kind of accepted that their friends would come from elsewhere, from clubs or extracurriculars or sports. And that was really hard for them,

especially as they watch their white classmates, spend time together outside of class and set up study groups. And especially coming out of the pandemic and remote learning, all these students wanted to do was socialize again. And for BIPOC students and AP courses, that just didn't seem to be an option. Catherine, according to your reporting, these disparities among teaching staff and students are widespread.

Do you see the same sort of disparity with the Hispanic student population and Hispanic teacher population in Newark as well? Yes. the population of Latino students has increased at a rate that far outpaces the incremental increases we're seeing of Latino students. And one of the students that we quoted in the story that we spoke to for this, her family immigrated to Newark from Brazil. And so she and her sister had varying experiences in the school system. Her sister struggled going through the system and

didn't have teachers who spoke her native Portuguese. But the one student, Melissa, she had a different experience in that she had a teacher that spoke her language in second grade. And that had a huge positive effect on her to the point where now she wants to become a bilingual teacher. And she's studying to get her degree. And she wants to return to New York to teach. Tully, I have to ask you, when I hear of all these stories, I have to ask, does

the district you focus on, plan to do anything to address any of the issues you uncovered? They do. They say their goal is to increase staff diversity and ensure the diversity in each building mirrors that of the student body. And there's a variety of ways they're doing that and reaching out across the street. But they've also acknowledged that this isn't a problem that's going to be easily fixed. That's Catherine Carrera, Bureau Chief at Chalkbeat Newark, and Montclair local nonprofit news reporter Talia Wiener talking with WNYC's Michael Hill. The Queen of the Beehive will grace our region in less than 24 hours. Superstar Beyonce is performing at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

And that's already having an effect on more than just ticket sales. WNYC's Veronica Del Valle has more. Call it the summer of the Mega Tour. There was Taylor Swift's record-breaking airspace. and the South Korean Girl Group Black Pink will end a 10-month world tour with four U.S. shows next month. But now there's Beyonce. The Renaissance tour is a 56-date extravaganza, and it lands at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium this weekend. Tens of thousands of people will flow to the meadowlands to watch Beyonce rise on the stage dressed in chrome and silver, and their money will follow.

Some experts, like Yelp Trends analyst Tara Lewis, are calling it the Beyonce bump. We know that Beyonce is a force to be reckoned with, but it's really incredible to see the impact that her tour is currently making on local economies. Yelp analyzed search traffic data in cities where the tour has stopped so far. They found, shortly before the performances, the weekly average of searches for nail salon technicians went up by almost 200% compared to last year. Arts and craft searches for people looking to glam up their outfits went up 75%. And for the makers of certain specialty items, that bump is even bigger. I do these in my apartment, so it's not like I have a factory or anything. Over the last few months, 24-year-old Brooklyn resident Shaley Stevens has become a major purveyor

of the disco cowboy hat that Beyonce used in the tour announcement. She posted it, and I was like, oh, I've made these before. So I decided to just post a listing for the disco cowboy hats on my Etsy, and it kind of took off. She spent hundreds of hours gluing tiny disco tiles onto felt hats to accommodate demand. So I actually just did a little total for this interview, and I've shipped a 605 hats since February. Or about three hats a day, every day, for six months. And that has translated to about $80,000 in gross revenue. Stevens even had to bump up her prices to stave off some of the demand.

But not every fan is pulling out their wallet. Ahead of the big weekend, Marjorie Taylor of Brooklyn is keeping her credit card far away. She paid more than $800 for two nosebleed tickets to the Sunday show, and she thinks she stimulated the economy enough. Having spent $800, I was like, I'm not even buying a new lipstick for this. I'm like, whatever I have, Beyonce. I love you, but I'm shopping my closet. That's WNYC's Veronica Del Valle.

Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Shout out to our production team. It includes Sean Baudits, Amber Bruce, Ave Carrillo, Audrey Cooper, Leora Noam Kravitz, Jared Marcel, and Wayne Schulmeister, with help from the entire WNYC newsroom. Our show art was designed by the folks at Buck, and our music was composed by Alexis Quadrado.

I'm Jenae Pierre. We'll be back Monday.