Jan 3, 2020, 3:29 PM
(From The Washington Post) A recent Washington Post analysis of school district data has revealed that students of color outpace teachers of color in nearly all U.S. schools. The teacher of color gap is largest among Latino students and teachers: only one-tenth of 1% of Latino students attend a school system where the portion of Latino teachers equals or exceeds the percentage of Latino students. For black students, 7% were enrolled in a district where the share of black teachers matches or exceeds the students. Meanwhile, 99.7% of white students attend a district where the faculty was as white as the student body.
In California, the push to recruit teachers of color has meant solutions ranging from subsidized housing for teachers, to recruiting in Mexico and Spain, to teacher training programs for Latino professionals. Yet, “It’s not enough to recruit,” said Richard Ingersoll of the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education. “If we don’t improve retention, I’m not optimistic for closing the gap.”
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