Vermont Launches Search for Black Teachers

 For the past year, hiring black teachers is a top priority for the Burlington, Vt. school board. Of the 337 teachers in the school district, none of them are African-American; 11.23 percent of the students are African-American.

Of course, the problem is not that the white teachers are inadequate, or even that there is a “race issue” within the schools.  However, parents state that the students just feel that their teachers can’t identify with the black students, when it comes to issues of race.

Administrators lament that the problem isn’t as easily solved as it would seem.  First of all, they don’t document race in the application process. Second of all, it is hard to attract black teachers to a state that has a reputation for having very few African Americans.  Thirdly, teacher hiring decisions are made by committees at each individual school making it hard to enforce a directive of hiring a more diverse staff. Finally, complex teacher licensing provisions in Vermont create a barrier to hiring out-of-state teachers.

Burlington isn’t the only school district facing a lack of diversity among their teaching staff. The state of Ohio has worked with Miami University to build the Consortium on Racial Equity in K-12 Education. The program doesn’t stop at hiring more African American, Hispanic and Asian teachers, but is about empathizing and respecting the experience of other cultures. 

 The NEA reports that only 16 percent of teachers are minorities nationwide.  

— Teachers of Color