There’s a Surprising Reason Why Many Schools Don’t Have a Single Black Teacher

| USA Today | Kayla Jimenez

An analysis of state-by-state data from The New Teacher Project, a nonprofit organization working to redesign education to meet the needs of students of color and students living in poverty, shows that across a majority of U.S. campuses, nearly one-fourth of public schools did not have an educator of color on staff. Meanwhile, students of color were the majority at public schools.

Teacher representation hasn’t kept up: about one-fourth of the nation’s teachers identified as people of color, according to the nonprofit’s analysis. Research conducted by scholars has shown the imbalance impedes learning, since students across the board and especially students of color, do better academically when they have teachers from diverse backgrounds.

While the reasons for the disparities are varied, education experts told USA TODAY the imbalance is part of a legacy, an unintended consequence, of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

Read the full article at USA Today.

A close-up photograph of a young woman with dark, curly hair and glasses, leaning in to assist a young boy with his schoolwork. The woman, likely a teacher or tutor, is smiling and pointing at a paper with a pencil while the boy, who is wearing a dark hoodie, looks intently at the work. Word flashcards are visible on a blue background in the distance.

A teacher leads a one-on-one reading session focused on strategy and engagement.

About TNTP

TNTP is the nation’s leading research, policy, and consulting organization dedicated to transforming America’s public education system so that every young person thrives.

Today, we work side-by-side with educators, system leaders, and communities across the nation to reach ambitious goals for student success.

Yet the possibilities we imagine push far beyond the walls of school and the education field alone. We are catalyzing a movement across sectors to create multiple pathways for young people to achieve academic, economic, and social mobility.

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