California may be known for its more liberal focus on diversity in public education, but a new report reveals that Texas teachers are more diverse than the Golden State. It became.
According to a report by the National Council on Teacher Quality, as of 2022, 43 percent of Texas’ teacher workforce will be made up of people from historically disadvantaged groups, while in California, the proportion will be around 33 percent. It was.
Additionally, Texas had 8.1 percentage points more teachers from historically disadvantaged groups than expected when compared to working-age adults with degrees from historically disadvantaged groups. This number decreased by 1.9 percentage points from 2014.
In California, there were 6 percentage points more teachers from historically disadvantaged groups than expected when compared to working-age adults from historically disadvantaged groups with degrees. However, that number increased by 1.8 percentage points from 2014.
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The numbers aren’t all that surprising when you look at the state’s economic and demographic realities.
“At first glance, you might think, wait a minute. Texas, whose education funding and policies seem to lean more towards political theater than pure investment in schools, has a more diverse teacher population than California. ” human resources consultant Brian Driscoll told Newsweek.
“But when you look at the data and think about it further, it’s not all that surprising. Texas, for all its shortcomings, has a growing and diverse population, and that translates into the classroom.” California, on the other hand, is choked by an affordability crisis.If teachers can’t afford to live where they teach, how can the nation be so diverse? Will we be able to attract and retain a diverse workforce?”
Nationally, West Virginia, Vermont, Iowa, and Idaho have the lowest rates of diversity in their teacher workforces, with only 1.8 percent to 4.8 percent being people of color.
The states with the highest teacher diversity were New Mexico, Texas, Hawaii, and Washington, DC. In New Mexico, 42 percent of the teacher workforce identifies as people of color, while in Washington, D.C., 72 percent of teachers identify as racial minorities.
On a larger scale, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) found that the diversity of the teacher workforce is increasing at a slower pace than the diversity of college-educated adults. . This essentially means that potential teachers of color are increasingly resigning.
“Teachers of color have a positive impact on all students, especially students of color, but our nation’s teacher workforce continues to lack racial diversity,” NCTQ President Heather Peske said in a statement. is lacking,” he said. “Addressing this problem starts with better data.”
Jennifer Lee Magas, a communications professor at Nova Southeastern University and a first-generation teacher in Bridgeport, Conn., said she has seen the challenges and opportunities that first-generation educators face in the classroom. Magas has taught in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and now Florida.
“The data showing that Texas has a narrower gap in teacher diversity than California is particularly striking,” Magas told Newsweek. “In Texas, the number of teachers of color is only 1.3 percentage points lower than expected when compared to working-age adults of color with a degree, whereas in California the difference is significantly larger at 12.8 percentage points. .”
Magas said Texas could have a more diverse teacher workforce through targeted hiring and partnering with historically underserved communities.
“During my time at Texas Tech University, I noticed that the faculty often reflected more diversity than the student body, which may be due to these proactive efforts.” Magas said.
“In contrast, despite greater student diversity in California, there are greater disparities and systemic issues such as access to teacher training programs, credentialing pipelines, and challenges in retaining diverse educators.” There are concerns about barriers.”
In the Northeast, states such as Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts face significant challenges, with Connecticut having a 39-point gap between teachers and students of color. This was an increase of 7.2 percentage points from 2014.
“This is not just Texas versus California,” Driscoll said. “This reflects how broken our system is. Diversity in education is important because students thrive when they see themselves in educators.”
“States like Texas aren’t achieving this in the grand scheme of things; they’re stumbling because demographics demand it. Conversely, California ’s plight reflects how systemic inequality undermines the very ideals the state stands for.”
