But in 40% of all public schools, there are no teachers of color. In urban, high-poverty areas, the disparities in teacher diversity are even worse.
While there’s great need, there are also great opportunities to change the historic, systematic removal of Black men and women from the national teacher pipeline.
Students need mirror images of themselves leading classrooms, but Black students just get windows. They don’t see teachers who reflect their identities and experiences and fully believe in their genius and full potential.
Black teachers did not abandon their students to pursue new careers after the Supreme Court struck down the idea of whites-only education. Rather, they were summarily dismissed, phased out and left out of recruitment efforts when white leadership took advantage of desegregation to systematically undermine the national Black teaching corps.
It didn’t matter that the white teachers who were kept, or hired instead of them, were far less qualified and credentialed. What mattered was they were white.
The impact of all this has been undeniable. It is ongoing and self-reinforcing. Black students today continue to experience a majority, if not exclusively, white teachers throughout their public education, which serves to dissuade them from considering a teaching career of their own. We must break this cycle.
Those who do become Black teachers, against the odds, often face tougher working conditions at high-poverty, harder-to-staff schools as they experience what has become known as the invisible tax: unrealistic expectations to fulfill disciplinary roles on top of their instructional responsibilities; an unfounded disrespect for their expertise and perspectives; and isolation without mentors and peers to turn to for support.
Not surprisingly, Black teachers leave the profession at higher rates than their white peers.
We work to undo educational inequities and racial injustice by rebuilding the Black teacher pipeline—from recruitment through retention. We strive to protect every student’s right to achieve in school and, ultimately, to liberate education.
Without having a firm handle on who we serve, our allies and supporters, we could not build and fuel the momentum to rebuild the national Black teacher pipeline. This is who they are—in their own words.
Most of us go through school, from kindergarten to high school graduation through college, without a Black teacher to look up to, someone who can mirror our racial identities, cultural experiences and futures full of possibilities.
Instead, we have mostly white teachers—many of whom expect less of us than our white classmates, while disciplining us more. And people still wonder why we don’t want to become teachers in this oppressive system.
Yet, some of us still want to be a part of the solution. To become the teachers we wish we had. To right what’s wrong so the next generation can have it better.
There are also those among us who were fortunate to have, not just one or two, but many Black teachers—and other adults in our lives—who motivate us.
In all this, we want to be seen and heard, and we will use our power and connections to achieve this.
We’re passionate about teaching and we love our students. We want them to reach their potential in school and in life. Because we share similar experiences coming from marginalized communities with our Black students, we can connect with them, and make our teaching even more impactful.
But we’re not getting the support we need. School administrators expect us to do more than our fair share of work outside of the classroom, including “controlling” Black students. At work, we have to deal with microaggressions and implicit bias like this.
We often have to look outside of our schools, sometimes beyond the entire district to find Black peers and mentors. Without this support, it’s difficult to stay motivated and focused.
We are proud of what we do, and care about our students, but all of this can be too much. As result, many of us consider leaving the profession to pursue others opportunities.
As education leaders, we find ourselves on a long continuum of awareness, understanding and expertise when it comes to increasing teacher diversity—from nascent stages to actively transforming our spheres of influence in supporting the rebuilding of the national Black teacher pipeline.
But increasingly more of us are invested in teacher diversity. We don’t realize how much of improving things requires us to be self-reflective about our own racial identities and implicit biases.
We are also beginning to realize that it takes more than knowing about the research on teacher diversity. To transform school culture and district systems, it takes smart, compassionate leadership, and engagement of all stakeholders, in and outside the school walls.
We need materials and guidance on anti-racist and culturally-powered approaches, intentionally designed to eradicate educational inequities and social oppression.
Some of us didn’t fully understand the benefits of our children having Black teachers. That all changed after our children attended the Freedom Schools Literacy Academy.
Witnessing how much more our children were learning and how much more they were enjoying their learning has made it clear to us the value of our Black children having Black teachers. Black teachers who look like them, love on them, and take the utmost care in teaching them the skills they need to thrive.
Many of us live in marginalized, disenfranchised communities, and we work hard to provide for our children, taking on sometimes more than one job to make ends meet. We know all too well what it means to work twice as hard to get half as much.
But we are more than willing to do what it takes to help advocate for teacher diversity. We are our children’s biggest champions when it comes to their education. We want teachers who encourage in our children a strong sense of racial identity, while supporting their educational excellence.
We count among us white teachers who are actively engaged in adopting anti-racist practices and becoming culturally-responsive teachers. We want to be a part of creating school cultures that value teacher diversity, Black teacher recruitment and retention, and larger system changes that advance educational equity.
Others of us are Black community members. Though we may not be school teachers, we still play important roles in supporting Black students.
We also believe there is no better way to fight historic and systemic racism than by helping our children receive the quality education and all the opportunities they deserve.
As policymakers, we need guidance on what to do to push and pull on the legislative levers that advance systemic changes. As funders, we are excited about your progress as we begin to see return on our investment in your theory of change.
As media, we will continue to elevate your efforts, including clear signs of change. Together, we must work on amplifying our messages and stories to counter narratives tied to educational inequities and misinformation about critical race theory.
