By: Rann Miller
Research shows that all students benefit from having teachers of color. Those benefits range from academic to relational. Therefore, it is no wonder that district leaders are choosing to recruit more teachers of color to work in their schools. When you consider that teachers of color are less than 20% of teachers (male teachers of color are less than 5% of all teachers), there is a need to recruit more people of color to the teaching profession.
Knowing that your school district needs teachers of color is the easy part. Recruiting is where it can get harder.
That’s because districts may or may not know where to find diverse teachers. It’s not necessarily because district leaders, many of whom are white, don’t care to know where to look. They may not know where to look. Also, they’re less likely to be familiar with established cultural networks among people of color.
But that’s no excuse.
Hosting a job fair and posting flyers around the city isn’t enough. Asking a colleague of color if they know of anyone who looks like them would be interested in teaching isn’t enough. Recruiting teachers of color from other districts isn’t enough. Truthfully, none of these “strategies” were ever enough. Each is insulting in their own way, but I digress.
District leaders consider that strategizing in isolation is no longer sufficient to recruit teachers of color. These times require for districts to reach out to institutions owned an operated by people of color who can inform people of color of teaching opportunities. DIVERSITY in Ed is one such institution of color who can do that.
Over 16,000 teacher candidates have applied to jobs on the DIVERSITY In Ed job board over the last 5 years. In response to that, over 2,700 schools, districts and even higher education institutions have posted teaching opportunities on the DIVERSITY in Ed job board to recruit prospective employees of color to enter their classrooms. Over 600 schools (private, public or charter) have taken part in DIVERSITY in Ed virtual recruitment fairs.
DIVERSITY in Ed is an organization that can support teacher of color recruitment efforts by school districts.
Adding teachers of color to schools in an important undertaking. However, school district leaders are not alone in tacking this task. There are institutions they can reach out to in order to get help. DIVERSITY In Ed is one such institution that can help.
