Why are there so few Teachers of Color in Wisconsin?

And what we can do to increase the number of educators of color in Dane County

by Kaleem Caire, Founder and CEO, One City Schools, Madison, WI

Why are there so few Black and Brown teachers in K-12 education in our local public schools? That is one of the most-asked questions of my 28-year career as an educator, program and policy leader, innovator, and CEO in PK-12 education. Students, parents, and other educators will say, “We want more Black and Brown teachers in our schools and classrooms”. We want this too, especially knowing that kids do better when they have teachers that share a common cultural background with them. Unfortunately, there is not the supply of Black and Brown teachers that we want and need.

The numbers are low and have been low for decades. According to a 2019 Pew Research Center Report, in 2017–18 just 7% of teachers in the United States were Black, 9% were Hispanic, 2% were Asian and fewer than 2% were Native or Pacific Islander. In 2019, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee reported that 9% of students in public K-12 education in Wisconsin in 2018–19 were Black and 12% were Hispanic, but only 2% of Wisconsin teachers were Black and 1.6% were Hispanic.

Our nation’s long legacy of racial discrimination in K-12 education, combined with the widespread underachievement of Black and Brown children in our nation’s K-12 schools, explain, in part, why we have so few educators of color in America’s public schools. The high cost of a four-year university education and the weight of debt students must take on post-graduation also play significant roles in diminishing the pool of diverse educators our nation’s classrooms.

To learn more about why there are so few educators of color, I encourage you read, The Displacement of Black Educators Post-Brown: An Overview and Analysisby Dr. Michael Fultz, professor emeritus with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Jim Crow’s Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership, by Dr. Leslie Fenwick, former Dean of the School of Education at Howard University.

The pipeline of new teachers is very small. During the 2021–22 academic year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s enrollment report shows that there were only 3 Black students enrolled in the elementary teacher education program, and another 6 that intended to enroll in the teacher education program. There were 18 Hispanic and 10 Asian students in the elementary teacher education program, and 17 Hispanic and 4 Asian students who intended to enter the teacher education program.

Given that, neither One City nor any other school district in Dane County can wave a magic wand and produce more Black and Brown educators as quickly as we need them and want them. Dr. Edmund Gordon, Professor Emeritus at Yale University, said it best in a 1999 report from The College Board titled Reaching the Top:

“Until many more…minority students…are very successful educationally, it will be virtually impossible to integrate our society’s institutions completely, especially at leadership levels. Without such progress, the United States also will continue to be unable to draw on the full range of talents in our population during an era when the value of an educated citizenry has never been greater.”

If we want to change this situation and ensure we have more Black and Brown teachers in our classrooms in the future, we have to:

• Ensure Black and Brown children can graduate from high school with the skills and academic requirements to complete a four-year college education and earn a teaching license. We must ensure our children graduate with the level of educational preparedness, academic rigor, and confidence needed to succeed in college and a teacher education program.
• Hold your Governor, state legislators, school board, and other local and federal public officials accountable for ensuring schools have the human and financial resources to provide a high quality education to children. Ask those running for office how they will advocate for Black and Brown children and support the improvement of our education system. Millions of our children are at risk, while politicians keep doing what politicians do now — get elected, do something for 6 months, then say they can’t do anything for the next 2 to 4 years because they can’t afford to upset people and lose mid-term and major elections. We need courageous leaders who are dedicated to lifting up our youth and future generations. No more light-weight leadership and no more excuses.
• Invest in “Grow our Own Teacher” strategies that enable experienced paraprofessional educators, such as teaching assistants, student support specialists, youth program workers, and other skilled professionals, to complete relevant four-year college degree and teacher licensing programs. There are many more adults of color working in these occupations than in lead teacher positions in schools. Colleges, universities, state departments of education and nonprofit providers are beginning to expand alternative pathways to teacher licensure to address the massive and growing shortage of high quality teachers in America’s PK-12 schools. However, sufficient funding must be available to plan, seed and grow such initiatives to scale. Likewise, alternative teacher-preparation program models need to do an effective job of identifying prospective teachers who have the attitudes, capacity, disposition and commitment necessary to become great teachers of children and teenagers, before dollars are invested in their pre-service learning, licensing and development.

If we want more Black and Brown teachers, focus on these three things. It’s not all we need, but it will be an effective and transformational start.

You get what you demand…and what you fail to focus on.

Kaleem Caire is founder and CEO of One City Schools in Madison, Wisconsin enrolling children ages 2 through grade 12. A native of Madison, Kaleem has led three national and regional organizations focused on education reform, and community and workforce development. He’s been recognized nationally and locally for his efforts.