Bridging Gaps

When Patrick Sweeney’s professors at Hofstra University asked for volunteers to student-teach at a virtually all-black high school in Queens--the former Andrew Jackson High School--there were no takers, he said.

So Sweeney, a white Mineola resident who grew up in mostly white Garden City, stepped forward, later taking a full-time position after his internship was done.

Two years later, he’s still at the school, where a weapons-seeking metal detector stands by the front door and teachers earn thousands less than teachers in wealthier districts. And he’s loving it.

"I appreciate what I’m doing, and the students appreciate it," Sweeney said. "I don’t hate getting up and going to work; I like going to work."

"It wasn’t my plan, but no one was volunteering, so I did," Sweeney said. "It was partially for the challenge and partially because there was an opening."

Sweeney, 30, is a graduate of a Hofstra University teaching program that encourages its mostly white education majors to consider taking jobs in heavily minority school districts. Teachers in high-minority districts often suffer lower pay, bigger class sizes, fewer resources and a less prestigious image than teachers in predominantly white districts. But many Hofstra education majors say they are happy working in those districts, saying they are convinced that they can make a difference, confident that they can bridge social gaps, or happy to win a teaching job in a mostly tight Long Island job market.

School officials in districts where Hofstra’s student teachers work say the program helps novice teachers--who often grow up in Long Island communities with little social diversity--become familiar with speech patterns, social habits and other nuances of various minority groups. Minority children will make up the fastest growing school-age population on Long Island during the careers of new teachers.

"I think it is important for students coming out of universities to be aware of cultural differences," said Mary Cannie, superintendent of the Uniondale school district, in which blacks and Hispanics make up 95 percent to the student population and only 16 percent of teachers. "You’ll find some teachers who want to teach diverse populations, some people who don’t, and I think affording them opportunities to experience the populations they are more comfortable with helps everyone in the long run."

Also, organizers say minority school districts and the children they teach benefit because teachers who come through the program often bring with them a desire to make a difference in the lives of minority children.

That is true for Elizabeth Eqdah, a Jamaica, Queens, resident who does client relations for Standard & Poor’s.

Eqdah, a 25-year employee of the financial rating house, took 15 weeks of accumulated vacation time to do student teaching at the Law and Community Service Magnet High School--part of the old Andrew Jackson High School.

Eqdah, a black woman who received her master’s degree from Hofstra last month, says she will have to take a $15,000 pay cut if she lands a job in New York City.

But she says working with the school’s virtually all-black student body has given her a satisfaction she had not achieved in 25 years in client relations. "I have a sense of what these children need," Eqdah said. "When I see them, I see me."

Jennifer Bambino, a white woman who grew up in West Hempstead, and lives in Oceanside, was one of several Hofstra graduates who said the program is infused with an idealism that flows from Alan Singer, a social studies professor who helped organize the Hofstra program six years ago.

"He tries to make a difference in society, and I think all of us have that same sense," said Bambino, who teaches at Howard T. Herber Middle School in Malverne, where about half of the students are minorities. "We want to make the world a better place."

Singer said a survey of 117 Hofstra education graduates who received certification in social studies in the last six years indicates the program is persuading graduates to teach in minority school districts. The survey shows that 52 of the 177 graduates took teaching jobs in New York City or in Long Island districts with large numbers of minority students. Singer said that Malverne, Uniondale, Freeport and Hempstead are minority districts that receive most of the student-teacher placements.

Singer said he helped set up the program after realizing that many graduates who accepted jobs in minority districts had difficulty adjusting and left within a year or two. "In many ways, it’s culture shock for them," he said. "The conditions of the kids’ lives are often so much different than the conditions they are used to. Many people see themselves teaching kids like themselves, rather than kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds or racial groups.

"They often go into situations somewhat apprehensively," Singer said. "What they discover is when they show caring, the kids respond."

The Hofstra program requires education students to spend at least two hours a week for 10 weeks observing in a school with a large minority population.

The program also encourages participants to accept more extensive student-teacher assignments in minority classrooms on a voluntary basis.

To help them cope, professors from the Hofstra program offer encouragement and support for current and former members of the program, sitting in on classes as (TEXT MISSING HERE) placed teachers with veterans who can serve as mentors.

Student teachers and alumni also gather at Hofstra about once a month during the school year to exchange ideas with mentors and peers about what works in the classroom and what doesn’t.

The ability to encourage education students to consider teaching in districts with large minority populations may be critical in the coming decade; educators say minority school districts face a shortage of teachers.

New York City is already experiencing a drain, as its teachers are lured away by starting salaries $5,000 to $10,000 higher on Long Island.

"It’s a major concern," said Rowena Karsh, a deputy superintendent for high schools in Queens. "It will be a concern for the next 10 years."

Meanwhile, fewer minorities are pursuing teaching careers compared to a quarter-century ago, a trend reflected both locally and nationally in teacher-college admissions. To be sure, teachers who have come through the Hofstra program openly admit they are not immune to the lure of smaller classes or bigger paychecks.

Sweeney said he has inquired about jobs in some of Long Island’s higher paying school districts where, with luck, he could boost his salary 20 percent. "That’s something that everyone knows, the salary difference," Sweeney said. "But I’m happy here. I wouldn’t necessarily change for any job on the Island. Some of them don’t pay that much more, anyway."

Sweeney says he is greatly rewarded by the bonds he has developed with his students. As the sixth period ended in Sweeney’s global studies class last Friday, several children paused on their way out of the classroom to wish him well. "Bye, Mr. Sweeney, have a nice weekend," a sophomore girl said. "Thanks, Ramona," Sweeney said, smiling her way. "You too!"