The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence and the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce don't much like that just 16 percent of the nation's teachers are people of color, compared to 41 percent of the students they teach.
So they've set a goal of recruiting 300 more teachers of color to Florida schools within the next year.
Starting in October (that's tomorrow), the groups will have public information sessions about how to get involved with the Teach and Inspire scholarship program. Already operating in nine Florida counties including Hillsborough and Polk, the effort has drawn more than 150 career changers and recent college graduates into the classroom.
"We look forward to working with the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to find new ways to reach potential teachers in the Hispanic community," ABCTE president David W. Saba said in a news release.
For more details on the events, click here.
Get inside the world of Florida education with St. Petersburg Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek and the rest of the Times education reporting team. We'll bring you up-to-date information about the latest education trends, fads and news and dig deep into Tampa Bay area school issues.
So color is more important than raw talent, education, and experience?
Kids need the right teacher in the classroom, not the right color. This is ridiculous. Worry about educating the kids with certified, educated, qualified teachers, if they happen to be non-white, well that is fine, of course. But looking to increase a particular skin color because it is considered better is a certain type of racism to me.
Posted by: what? | October 01, 2008 at 08:07 PM
Given the opportunities available for talented PEOPLE in some non-teaching areas of the private sector and the (comparatively) rather poor pay for teachers, it is not surprising that it might be difficult to recruit talented PEOPLE into education.
How important is the race of a person anyway? Give me a talented mentor, teacher, supervisor, coworker, etc. - THAT's the point!
Posted by: Timmy! | October 01, 2008 at 05:50 PM
People of color in classrooms is one thing but people of color hardly ever succeed in the ranks of administration in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties if even given the chance. Things must change in the Tampa Bay area because corporate racism still exists and it is alive and well in our school systems.
Posted by: Yeah Right | October 01, 2008 at 01:24 PM
Isn't this called reverse discrimination? Minorities already have the advantage in securing grants and scholarships over their caucasian counterparts. How much easier can you make it for them to get any higher education?
Here's a thought: let's hire the most qualified candidate for a position, whether it's teaching or any other field!
Posted by: HereWeGoAgain | October 01, 2008 at 07:32 AM
While I agree with your conclusion that a teacher's color shouldn't matter, I would think an English teacher could read better. According to the article, 41% of students are non-white while only 16% of teachers are.
Is there a valid reason for trying to increase the number of teachers from minority groups, assuming that quality isn't sacrificed in the process? (And there's no reason why it would be.) I believe a good case can be made in favor of this idea. The influence of role-modeling cannot be ignored. You might recall a highly-favorable article earlier this year about the male kindergarten teacher and the positive influence it was hoped he would have.
Why is there such a disparity in ethnic makeup between teachers and students? There are several possible reasons for this apparent imbalance. Given the time factor in educating teachers it makes sense that the demography of teachers would lag behind changing societal demographics. Given the opportunities available for talented minority members in some non-teaching areas of the private sector and the (comparatively) rather poor pay for teachers, it is not surprising that it might be difficult to recruit talented minority members into education.
Posted by: high school math teacher | September 30, 2008 at 08:15 PM
So is the assumption: students are only capable of learning from a culturally common teacher?
Absolute rubbish!
Posted by: Timmy! | September 30, 2008 at 07:30 PM
This is ridiculous... you shouldn't hire or prefer people because of their race... There are more white teachers because there are more white people in this country. Blacks make up about 13 percent of the country, so it makes sense that about 14 percent of teachers are black and/or Spanish.
Color shouldn't matter; quality should!
Posted by: high school English teacher | September 30, 2008 at 06:10 PM