Massachusetts school district posts math job listing favoring ‘active anti-racist, LGBTQ+ advocate’ candidates

Springfield Public Schools in Massachusetts is advertising a middle school special education math teaching job, with a focus on “anti-racist instructional practices that ensure students own the learning.”

The job listing states that preferred qualifications for the job would include a candidate with “Experience as an active anti-racist, LGBTQ+ advocate, or organizer for equity.”

Additionally, the listing states: “We know that historically marginalized groups – including people of color, women, people from working class backgrounds, and people who identify as LGBTQ – are less likely to apply unless and until they meet every requirement for a job. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from educators with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.“

The job is part of the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP), which “recognizes an individual for their outstanding vision, capacity, and commitment to anti-racist school communities.”

SEZP was established in 2015 as a collaboration between Springfield Public Schools (SPS), the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Springfield Education Association (SEA) and “seeks to improve the longitudinal life outcomes of the more than 5,000 students in our 16 middle and high schools,” according to the listing.

Each school within SEZP is “held accountable for realizing achievement gains for historically marginalized students” and its work “is in pursuit of equity and anti-racism acknowledging the systemic oppression our students and families encounter daily and working to disrupt these provision gaps urgently and courageously.”