BUZZ
‘I’m sure we can figure it out. We got the money.’
The vice chair of a Connecticut school board recently suggested “black and brown” teachers and administrators should get extra “financial incentives” due to the “extra burden” they have being black.
LaToya Yagaloff, who also goes by LaToya Fernandez, made her opinion known during a West Hartford School District Board meeting back in mid-December, but the remarks only recently came to light via the popular X account Libs of TikTok.
“So I know we have like some efforts to increase diversity in the district,” Yagaloff says in her initial remarks (at about the 1:24:00 mark in the video below). “So I’m wondering um especially around administration. Are there financial incentives for black and brown people to work here?”
After (what appears to be a district representative) informs Yagaloff that there aren’t “any specific incentives,” the official adds the district is “always looking to increase the diversity of our workforce both in teachers and in administrators” as it recognizes that neither its administration nor teaching force “matches [the] students.”
Yagaloff responds by saying “Right. Definitely. And I think that’s something that should be taken into consideration because I think that’s how we’re going to bring the diversity here. It’s an extra burden quite frankly to be a black and brown uh teacher and administrator in the district. And so I think we should start thinking about that financially if we’re not already.”
When asked if she knows of other school districts that offer black teachers and administrators extra money, Yagaloff replies that she isn’t certain, adding “But I know we call ourselves leaders and I know we have an office of equity and belonging. So I’m sure we can figure it out. We got money. It’s West Hartford.”
When other board members and district officials subsequently discuss how West Hartford’s compensation for its employees is “very competitive,” Yagaloff says “Yeah, I totally get that […] like it’s still not enough. Like being a black and brown person teaching and leading in this district comes with something extra and it means you have to make an extra investment in yourself.”
The College Fix asked Yagaloff via email about the legality of paying a public school district’s teachers and administrators more based on race or ethnicity. She did not respond.
According to her (LaToya Fernandez) website, Yagaloff “began her pursuit of community empowerment” while employed at the YMCA in San José, California. She was a “top performing English Language Arts Teacher with a record breaking 2.2 years of reading growth for primarily English Language learning students.”
Yagaloff’s school board bio notes she is a “passionate educator, equity leader, and community advocate dedicated to empowering students and families through inclusive and culturally responsive education.” She also “works as a statewide Restorative Justice facilitator and trainer.”
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