![]() “We need to think about, ‘How are they experiencing my school?’” he said. Black teachers also are more likely stay on in school systems that have Black leaders, he said, as well as a culture and approaches to teaching that are anti-racist. To address the problem, schools can start by ensuring students of color have better experiences in school themselves and offering them opportunities to consider teaching, El-Mekki said. But they don’t have plans to retain them, such as providing opportunities to help shape policies and curricula. Sharif El-Mekki, a former Philadelphia teacher who leads the Center for Black Educator Development, said schools around the country come to him seeking help in recruiting teachers of color. “They’re in more precarious teaching positions, meaning you’re in a position with less resources and worse working conditions, so you’re more likely to quit no matter who you are,” Fuller said. Hispanic and multiracial teachers had a similar ratio, of around twice as likely.īlack and Hispanic teachers are more likely to be uncertified or teaching in an underfunded district, all of which is associated with someone leaving the profession at a higher rate, Fuller said. In Pennsylvania, Black teachers were more than twice as likely to leave the profession as white teachers after the 2021-22 school year, according to a data analysis by Ed Fuller, an education professor at Penn State. And researchers have found that teachers of color, who tend to have less seniority, often are affected disproportionately by layoffs. The departures are undoing some recent success that schools have had in bringing on more Black and Hispanic teachers. Having teachers who reflect the race of their students is important, researchers say, to provide students with role models who have insight into their culture and life experience. Nationally, about 80% of American public school teachers are white, even though white students no longer represent a majority in public schools. Last fall, it fell to below 23%, according to district figures. In Philadelphia, a city with one of the highest concentrations of Black residents in the U.S., the proportion of Black teachers has been sliding. But the burdens can be heavier in schools serving high-poverty communities that also have higher numbers of teachers of color. A major culprit: stress - from pandemic-era burnout, low pay and the intrusion of politics into classrooms. The turnover in some cases is highest among teachers of color. Teachers are leaving jobs in growing numbers, state reports show. But it’s the higher-ups: ‘Do it this way or don’t do it at all.’” “I enjoy actually teaching, that part I’ve always enjoyed,” said Hicks, 59. And when she retires in a few weeks, she will join a disproportionately high number of Black and Hispanic teachers in her state who are leaving the profession. As a Black woman, she took pride in being a role model for many children of color.īut other aspects of the job deteriorated, such as growing demands from administrators over what and how to teach. She loved teaching and loved her students in Philadelphia’s public schools. (AP) - Rhonda Hicks could have kept working into her 60s. ![]()
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