Talent Scouts

By Joanna Richardson

The West Hartford, Conn., schools are in a jam. They want to hire more black, Hispanic, and Asian teachers. But it hasn't been easy. Like suburban districts nearby, they've tried just about every trick in the book. They've sent scouts to colleges down South, to recruiting fairs up North in Boston, and covered territory in between. Most of their efforts, though, have not put them where they want to be. "It's been a challenge for us, to be frank," says Timothy Dunn, the district's director of human resources.

Last fall, the schools hired four minority educators--not bad for a district that is still predominantly white. Of its 8,300 students, just one-fifth are minorities.

Still, West Hartford officials worry. The number of minority students is growing, while the teaching force barely changes. Over time, what would that mean for the district? Children would have little contact with people of color they could look up to. Teachers would write their lessons in one voice. Maybe even the community would begin to feel...