Report Shows Decline/Slight Growth in Latino Teachers

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The Albert Shanker Institute released a report on the state of teacher diversity in the United States. Nationally, progress towards greater diversity is being made, however there is still a large need for minority teachers.

The report studied nine cities: Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The report found there were some pockets of development, but overall there was a lack of progress.

“Diversity is a key component to equality and opportunity,” said Randi Weingarten, Shanker Institute Board President. “Where there’s a diverse teaching workforce, all kids thrive. [We] are calling for a national summit on teacher diversity in urban areas.”

One of the key findings of the report determined that, while the Latino share of the teacher workforce grew slightly, it was not able to compare with the growth in Latino student population. This means the gap between teacher-student representation remains quite large. The gap is much more pronounced in charter schools than in district schools.

Another finding of the report was that, nationally, the biggest obstacle of diversity is teacher attrition; minority teachers are leaving because of a lack of a collective voice in school decisions.