Minority Teachers Quitting Due To Racism And Black Income Disparity, Or Is Common Core And Child Discipline The Problem?

A new report claims the United States’ education system is seeing minority teachers quitting at an alarming rate. Experts cited by the Washington Post claim it is possible a history of racism and income disparity might explain why some black teachers are quitting their jobs, but others believe the new standardized curriculum like Common Core and the inability to apply child discipline may have frustrated these teachers.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Ahmed Mohamed is a Muslim teen who was arrested for allegedly making a clock that was mistaken for a bomb, and his family believes he was unfairly treated due to his brown skin.

According to the Progressive, we have minority teachers quitting, yet American public schools largely consist of kids of color.

“Nationally, minority students make up 40.7 percent of the public school population,” the 2011 study by the Center for American Progress claimed. “Although many schools (both urban and rural) are increasingly made up of a majority of black and Latino students, black and Latino teachers represent only about 14.6 percent of the teaching work force. And in urban and high-poverty schools where minority teachers are disproportionately employed, teaching staffs are still predominately composed of white teachers.”

President Obama has written about the need to “improve the recruitment, preparation, development, and retention of successful African-American teachers,” yet we are still seeing minority teachers quitting faster in comparison to white teachers. A report by the American Federation of Teachers called the “The State of Teacher Diversity in American Education” claims that “minority teachers—especially minority male teachers—are underrepresented in these urban workforces, with substantial representation gaps between minority teachers and minority students.”

According to the Washington Post, income disparity and racism might be one of the reason that we’re seeing minority teachers leaving in such large numbers.

“There is no singular reason for the racial disparities within majors, but centuries of racial discrimination, uneven budgetary support for K-12 education and poor academic advising and student support contribute to the problem,” said Tom Allison, deputy director of policy and research at Young Invincibles.

Richard Ingersoll, professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, also cites “working conditions” as a reason for why black teachers are quitting in such high numbers. He also notes that it’s “standardized curriculum that’s scripted and sometimes micromanaged” which “drives teachers nuts.”

In addition to this explanation, PowerLine suggests that minority teachers may be frustrated since control over child discipline has been taken out of the hands of teachers in recent years.

“[B]lack teachers may be more frustrated by the indiscipline of their students who (this being the city) tend predominantly to be black, and more discouraged by restrictions on their ability to impose discipline. I’m speculating here. However, the Shanker study itself argues that minority teachers have higher expectations for minority students than white teachers do. And the study cites discipline problems as a reason for high teacher quit-rates among minorities.”

What do you think?

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