News 12's Rich Barrabi hosted a town hall Wednesday night on the divide in schools, the lack of diversity between teachers and their students and the impact it has on students and education in general.

He was joined by student Bianca Bermudez, the Long Island Latino Teachers Association's Dafny Irizarry, Hofstra University's Larry Levy and Brandy Scott, of the Long Island Black Educators Association.

Irizarry says that due to the lack of diversity, students of color may not see their potential. She also says that language can also attribute to this, especially if English is not their first language.

Bermudez says she's had Latinx teachers in the past, but they were of a lighter skin complexion.

Levy says he's been covering diversity for a very long time, first at Newsday and now at Hofstra University's National Center for Suburban Studies. He says he was shocked by the numbers, which revealed that only 8% of teachers on Long Island are non-white.

Scott says students who want to become teachers in the future may become discouraged by the hiring process that many districts have.