Sharif El-Mekki thanks for writing this insightful article. Sharif and I address the tremendous impact of Brown v Board of Education and the intentional disruption of the Black teacher pipeline, after the ruling in our Teach Plus and Center for Black Educator Development collaboration paper To Be Who We Are: Black Teachers on Creating Culturally Affirming Schools https://lnkd.in/gtZcaQ3k.
It’s important to understand the data associated with the increase of Black teachers, because it has a significant impact on college enrollment for Black students. As we think about inviting more Black educators into the K-12 space, the onus is on human capital management teams to invite more Black people into the college milieu, to ensure Black college goers feel supported. There has to be a concerted intentionality to recruit more Black staff and faculty at PWIs, this is not solely incumbent upon HBCUs.
As a former Associate Dean of Educator Certification at Dallas College’s School of Education, ALL of our students were able to engage with Black administrators and faculty, who provided exceptional educational and professional opportunities for them to model. They saw a Black Provost Dr. Shawnda Navarro Floyd, Black Deans Jeffrey Miller, Ed.D and Jana Barnett, Ed.D. and Black faculty Cecelia Joyce Price, Ph.D. and Dr. Brandon Morgan, to name a few. The opportunity to learn and grow from such an esteemed, talented and intelligent group of people, improved the completion outcomes of a tremndous number of students who were first-generation, coming from disinvested communities.
I challenge educational decisionmakers to sit with the data below and begin to design plans that will asssist in the intentional recruitment and retention of Black teachers and college staff and faculty across the country!
1. We need 280,000 Black teachers added to the workforce to mirror the percentage of Black students in America’s schools.
2. 13% of Black students, who have one Black teacher in K-12, are more likely to enroll in college. If they are lucky enough to have two, that number nearly triples to 32%.
3. Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the teacher workforce.
4. Black female teachers are less than 5% of the teacher workforce.
5. Less than 5% of administrators and faculty at PWIs are Black.
The Courage to traverse the threshold.
2wCharles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies Sharif El-Mekki’s call for a new social contract for teachers highlights the urgent need for structural, financial, and cultural support to sustain the profession and attract diverse educators. By focusing on affordable housing, debt relief, and inclusive career pathways, his proposals clearly address the systemic barriers that hinder educational equity, particularly in underserved communities. This vision aligns with global trends in social justice and the role of education in strengthening democratic societies. Investing in teachers is essential for fostering long-term societal progress and empowering future generations. #OvercomingBarriers #Education #TeacherSupport #SocialJustice