Wanted: More Staff Diversity

By Ella Ceelen

For some people, the concept of diversity has always been a prevalent aspect of life, whether on a larger scale, like representation in Congress, or on a smaller scale, like characters on a television show.

However, the recent racial tensions sparked by the presidential election--Black Lives Matter marches, National Anthem protests-- and inflamed by events like Charlottesville have pushed racial issues to the forefront and into the minds of people who have never considered them before. Such events are enough to give anyone a heightened awareness of racism and inequality in everyday life and, in turn, diversity.

It is now easy to over analyze any group of people--sports teams, classrooms, clubs--and look for adequate diversity. On important group stood out as particularly lacking: public school teachers.

Did you know that while non-white children account for more than half of all public school students, 83% of all teachers who serve them are white?

Additionally, over ten years, between 2002 and 2012, the number of black teachers in major cities across the US declined at surprising rates, from a 15% decrease in New York to a 62% decrease in New Orleans.

These statistics are reflected in our own high school. Out of 718 MHS students, only 12.5% are minorities, yet only 1.8% of our teaching staff are minorities, according to US News and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

This is simply not right. The US is already a diverse nation and will only become more diverse in years to come. It is necessary that diversity be reflected in public school teachers.

Public school teachers are charged with educating 91% of students; students who will grow up and fill the roles of American citizens. If we as a nation want to be able to pass the baton with confidence to future generations, the support and encouragement of every American student is essential.

However, a lack of racial diversity in public school teachers can impede in equal success of students. Studies from the Center of Education Data and Research (CEDR) have proven the impact of teacher diversity in schools, especially in closing the achievement gap between different groups of students.

To begin with, teachers of minority races are more likely to recognize the potential of minority students and hold them to higher academic standards. Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), found this stems from their different perspectives and impressions of a student’s behaviors and efforts. Students assigned to teachers of their same race are more likely to say that their teacher pushes them to work harder, to not give up when things get tough, and to accept nothing less than their best effort. Data from the CEDR suggests that black females assigned to black female teachers say they think more about going to college because of their teachers.

According to a research article by Anne Gregory, Russell J. Skiba, and Pedro A. Noguera, it can be beneficial to students to have a teacher in their school district of the same race. McFarland School District’s policy is to “not discriminate on the basis of race [or] color ...,” but by not hiring a racially diverse staff, it could be inadvertently contributing to the unequal success of some McFarland students. Because a racially varying teaching staff can be so impactful and encouraging to the success of our own students, diversifying McFarland’s teaching staff is a necessary and long overdue mission.