Opinion
Recruitment & Retention Letter to the Editor

We Need Better Efforts to Hire and Retain Black Teachers

July 11, 2023 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

Bettina L. Love argues that we should prioritize the retention of Black teachers, not the recruitment. At least, that is the message in her essay (“Stop Trying to Recruit Black Teachers Until You Can Retain the Ones You Have,” March 23, 2023). We should be doing both.

Recruitment efforts are often all sound and fury, with no change. Districts say they want to find more teachers of color, then use artificial barriers to constrain the numbers, including state certifications that are often time- and money-consuming.

Black teachers are wary of the way they are used, as Love notes. They are wary of job insecurity and low pay. They are more than just wary of the often-hostile work environment they come into, one that often assumes things such as the idea that Black males must assume “disciplinary roles” for which they are not trained.

As for retention, the conditions that keep any teacher in their school would also work for Black teachers: decent salaries, coaching support, classroom-management training, sustainable workloads, respect for their professionalism, and genuine care for healthy conditions and facilities. Add to that a recognition that there are issues related to identity that deserve and demand attention and action. These differ district to district, even school to school.

The one thing we currently lack is honest and well-funded efforts to train, hire, and retain Black teachers.

Jon McGill
Academic Director
Baltimore Curriculum Project
Baltimore, Md.

A version of this article appeared in the July 12, 2023 edition of Education Week as We Need Better Efforts to Hire and Retain Black Teachers

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
How to Leverage Virtual Learning: Preparing Students for the Future
Hear from an expert panel how best to leverage virtual learning in your district to achieve your goals.
Content provided by Class
English-Language Learners Webinar AI and English Learners: What Teachers Need to Know
Explore the role of AI in multilingual education and its potential limitations.
Education Webinar The K-12 Leader: Data and Insights Every Marketer Needs to Know
Which topics are capturing the attention of district and school leaders? Discover how to align your content with the topics your target audience cares about most. 

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Recruitment & Retention Q&A Behind the Podcast That's Trying to Entice More People of Color Into Teaching
New York City uses outside-the-box strategies to recruit and retain educators of color.
4 min read
Kabir Saad
Saad Kabir, who works on recruitment for New York City public schools, started a podcast to help entice people of color into the classroom.
Courtesy of Saad Kabir
Recruitment & Retention What the Research Says How to Find (and Keep) Substitutes
Educators and leaders discuss ways to deepen the substitute labor pool amid staff shortages and absenteeism.
2 min read
Tia Martin teaches a third-grade class at Ulis Elementary School in Henderson, Nev., on Sept. 10, 2015. Martin is a long-term substitute teacher who is taking an alternative route to licensure program to get a regular teaching license. After years of recession-related layoffs and hiring freezes, school systems in pockets across the United States are in urgent need of more qualified teachers and students, instead of meeting their new teacher on their first day of class, are finding a substitute.
Tia Martin teaches a third-grade class at Ulis Elementary School in Henderson, Nev., on Sept. 10, 2015. Martin is a long-term substitute teacher who is taking an alternative route to licensure program to get a regular teaching license. After years of recession-related layoffs and hiring freezes, school systems in pockets across the United States are in urgent need of more qualified teachers and students, instead of meeting their new teacher on their first day of class, are finding a substitute.
John Locher/AP
Recruitment & Retention Video How to Create a School Culture That Teachers Won't Want to Leave
At this Texas middle school, staff have turned down job offers that would boost their salary or significantly cut their commute time.
2 min read
Recruitment & Retention Staff Shortages in Schools Are Here to Stay. Here's Why
School districts are still struggling to hire qualified candidates in special education, transportation, and STEM.
6 min read
Illustration of man and african american woman using binoculars and sitting on a search bar from internet.
iStock/Getty