A new report on teacher diversity is urging urban school districts to put more energy into ensuring that educators reflect the racial and ethnic backgrounds of their students.
The study released Wednesday by the Albert Shanker Institute shows a large diversity gap exists nationwide between students and teachers, with 44.1 percent of all students identified as minorities in 2012, compared to only 17.3 percent of teachers. The gap is most dramatic for African-American and Latinos, the report found.
It traced the changing demographics of teacher and student populations over several years in nine cities – including Los Angeles and San Francisco – and found a drop in the number of African-American teachers and a growing Latino student population that is outpacing the growth in the number of Latino teachers.
“Diversity is a key component to equality and opportunity,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and a member of the institute’s board of directors. “Where there’s a diverse teaching workforce, all kids thrive.”
[For more of this story, written by Theresa Harrington, go to http://edsource.org/2015/large...s-report-finds/86998]
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