The San Lucas Unified School District has a very aggressive affirmative action program. San Lucas, a midsize city in the Southwest, has a population that is approximately 50% white, 10% African American, and 40% Hispanic (mostly Mexican American). School district officials are strongly committed to recruiting and retaining teachers who represent this diverse population. They believe that students should have positive role models from their own ethnic groups and also think that a diverse teaching staff is best able to deal with student differences stemming from unique cultural backgrounds. The school districts goal is to achieve a teaching staff that has the same proportion of minority groups as in the local population. District officials realized early on that achieving this goal would be no easy task, so they instituted a set of hiring procedures they hoped would attract underrepresented applicants. Then, they worked to make especially attractive offers to these candidates and instituted special programs (mostly seminars and workshops) designed to aid in these recruits adjustment and to decrease turnover.

The officials hoped that Maria Sanchez would be one of their early success stories. Maria was hired straight out of the state university into a position at San Lucas High School. She specializes in the science curriculum, teaching mostly courses in biology and general science. Hired at the highest salary possible for a new graduate, Maria also negotiated several conditions that were not part of the traditional employment contract. She felt she needed an extra dedicated laptop to prepare exercises and graphics for her classes, and the school board provided one. She wanted her classes to have additional access to the schools iPads. She also asked for an extra free period each day for class preparation. She felt this was necessary because much of her afterschool time would be taken up by extracurricular activities and counseling the Hispanic students at the high school. The school board also complied with this request, agreeing that Marias role in providing social support for the students was an important one.

Some rough times marked the first two years of Marias contract with San Lucas High School. Her teaching evaluations were uneven because she had trouble maintaining control in the classroom and had difficulty explaining basic concepts to her first-year classes. She was much more effective in her advanced biology classes, where she could use extended simulations to illustrate complex processes. In general, the students liked her, but some complained that she played favorites. She also ran into problems with her coworkers. Most of the teachers were friendly with her on an interpersonal level, but they were concerned that she was rarely willing to serve on curriculum, planning, or special-events committees.

After two years, Marias probationary period was over, and it was time to make a decision about a long-term contract. Three representatives of the school district were meeting to discuss this issue: Jan Dobos, director of minority recruitment for the district; Raul Rivera, the principal at San Lucas High School; and Zoe Grainger, head of the teachers union.

Jan opened up the discussion. It looks like Ms. Sanchez is doing a reasonably good job at the high school, and I definitely think she should be given a long-term contract. Shes doing great work providing advice for many of the Latina girls who have no one else to talk to. And her teaching is beginning to shape up. I think with a bit more support from the district, she can develop into a really valuable contributor.

Weve got a problem here if youre talking about giving Maria even more support, Zoe interrupted. Theres already some discontent among the high school teachers about the special perks Maria got when she signed on here. She has more computing support than they do, and they resent the fact that she only has four classes a day while theyre teaching five. Its not that they dont support the diversity program here, but they see it coming out of their own hides. Weve been told that were now living in a post-racial society but it doesnt feel that way here.

And arent we forgetting something here? added Raul. What about whats best for Maria?

Zoe laughed. Most of the teachers dont think Marias needs are being forgotten! Quite the contrary, it seems that Marias needs are being considered over everyone elsesother teachers and the students!

Thats just what Im getting at, said Raul. Ive talked to Maria a lot about this, and I dont think youve taken her perspective at all. Shes in a tough situation here. She feels like shes expected to be the perfect cultural role model for students and the school board alike. And she doesnt have anyone to serve as a role model for her; shes just feeling her way through the system. Marias under a microscopeexpected to advise minority students as well as serve in outreach programs. You may not think she pulls her weight with school committees, but you dont know the half of what she does with community programs.

So, what do we do? asked Jan. We need to make an immediate recommendation to the school board. Does she get a long-term contract, and if so, what should it look like?

Case Analysis Questions

1. What do you think of the cultural diversity program in the San Lucas school district? Are the goals of this program reasonable? Are good systems in place for reaching these goals? What alternative ideas could you suggest to the school district for improving its program?
2. What should this committee recommend to the school board with respect to retaining Maria Sanchez? What other recommendations should they make to the board given what they have learned from their experiences so far?
3. How can you explain the very different experiences of Maria and other teachers at the high school? Is there an avenue that could be taken to cope with these differences? How could this situation be managed to improve the situation for Maria, for other teachers, for the students, and for the community?

*** Please Use 4 of these words in the responses***:

• affirmative action
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• business case for diversity
• co-cultural exchanges
• code switching
• control (simple, technical, bureaucratic)
• critical theory
• discipline
• discrimination
• discursive practices
• discursive closure
• Employment Non-Discrimination Act
• family-friendly programs
• glass ceiling
• hegemony
• ideology (patriarchy, white supremacy, culture of poverty, heteronormativity, rationality)
• identification
• lean in
• mentoring relationships
• mommy track
• multicultural organization
• microaggressions
• opt-in
• opt-out
• prejudice
• resistance
• stereotypes
• tokenism