DPS, NCCU Team for Professional Development Event at Durham Megachurch

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Zaretta Hammond, a consultant on the topic of culturally responsive teaching, is expected to speak Tuesday before educators from Durham Public Schools and North Carolina Central University’s School of Education.

The $15,000 speaking fee and the venue for the professional development event – held during a teacher workday – has raised some hackles on the r/bullcity subreddit.

Event organizers are spending $1,000 for the event to be held at the World Overcomers Christian Church on South Miami Boulevard in Durham.

“I would like to see the data that shows how a speaker like this can positively impact teachers and students,” wrote one respondent on a subreddit post. “At this moment, I know that some of our elementary school classrooms are very short on supplies and have too many students in them.”

Wrote another: “We should not be paying a church with public school funds, period.”

Crystal Roberts, spokesperson for DPS, told Southpoint Access: “World Overcomers Church was chosen after evaluating multiple large venues. It offered the most cost-effective, accessible, and spacious option for hosting more than 3,000 educators across both institutions. Similar facilities would have cost DPS roughly $20,000 or more, not including A/V or transportation.”

It’s not all that unusual for publicly funded agencies and governments to rent space from churches. Some polling places for the Nov. 4 municipal election are churches, as an example, including Yates Baptist Church and St. Stephens Episcopal Church.

Hammond, a teacher-educator and consultant whose Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain is a widely used K-12 professional-learning text, focuses her trainings on building students’ cognitive capacity through culturally responsible routines rooted in the science of learning.

The collaboration between DPS and NCCU, who are sharing the event’s costs, is expected to further strengthen “our community’s educator pipeline and shared commitment to equity and academic excellence,” Roberts said.

When asked whether staff are required to attend the event, Roberts said that Tuesday “is a required teacher workday. Leave/use of time will be handled through appropriate supervisors.”

Added Roberts: "We recognize that some staff may feel uncomfortable with a church setting, so a virtual option will be available for anyone preferring to participate in that manner."

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