By Taylor Johnson | OBSERVER Staff Writer
As a graduate of Howard University, Tiffany Smith-Simmons knew she wanted to see more Black teachers and administrators throughout Sacramento City Unified. The district’s director of talent management, she partnered with Alan Rowe of United College Action Network Inc. (UCAN) and traveled across the nation to recruit teachers from HBCUs.
She visited 17 campuses over two years and successfully recruited 16 to 18 teachers, despite limited financial resources. She also provided personal support, including creating referral sheets for hair, doctors, and stores, and assisted with relocation challenges, as well as cooking for them.
“Whenever I’m able to recruit or bring someone or support a Black educator, I absolutely do. All kinds of research shows that children, no matter their race, do better with Black educators,” she says.
Simmons was born and raised in Sacramento and pursued a career in education to become the teacher she needed as a child. By 2011, she became principal at Mark Hopkins Elementary School and has worked for the school district for 27 years.
“As a teacher, you have the direct influence of 20 or 24 students in your classroom,” she says. “And I just really wanted to cast my net wider. I wanted to be able to influence the learning and growth at a school site with a bigger influence.”
Simmons recalls her time as a principal; two fifth-grade boys were brought into her office by a police officer for “playing chicken” and running in the streets. When some teachers wanted to exclude the boys from class, Simmons insisted they belonged in school and taught them herself that day.
She strongly believes in “other mothering,” which is caring deeply for students and teachers beyond just academic instruction, their right to education, and job responsibilities.
“Other mothering is what we need, and when we’re looking at educating or bringing in Black educators, we’ve got to also care for them. We have to know that we are putting them in places that are challenging,” she says.
Recruiting and retaining Black teachers and administrators are extremely important to her. She hopes the district supports them more by implementing affinity groups, where Black teachers and administrators can meet, talk with, and find understanding with their jobs and roles.
“We have been able to support teacher leaders in obtaining their administrative credential, and 80% of them have been people of color, and we did it as cohorts” she says. “So again, not true affinity, but the cohorts, so they have someone to talk to.”
Simmons continues to plan on working hard to ensure students, teachers and other administrators at the district feel supported and cared for.
“I go hard in the paint for kids because kids are our most precious, precious, precious economy. If we do not support kids to have brighter futures, there’s no telling what’s going to happen to our world,” she says.