Clik here to view.
In schools across the United States, Black teachers make up only about 7% of the teaching workforce, even though Black students account for around 15% of public school enrollment. Yet research consistently shows Black students thrive when they have a teacher who looks like them — and are more likely to be identified as gifted than if they were evaluated by a white teacher.
So, when the Education Department recently killed more than $600 million in federal grants for teacher training last week, Dominique Howse began sounding the alarm.
RELATED: Black Students Are Punished More, Then Expected to Succeed
While the White House justified ending the grants because they focused on “divisive” concepts involving race, Howse, director of communications at the nonprofit Center for Black Educator Development, says the grants are critical in recruiting and retaining Black teachers.
“We need Black teachers. It’s the only thing that’s going to make our larger society better,” she says.
When Black educators are in the classroom, Howse says, “We reduce the amount of high school dropouts, we reduce the amount of disempowered young people, we reduce the amount of disconnected opportunities for youth, we decrease the amount of at-risk youth, we decrease the amount of folks who are shuffling into prisons, into jails.”
Bottom line: Black educators “decrease the amount of people living in poverty. There’s this intersectionality that we’re pretty clear on,” she says.
Based in Philadelphia and launched in 2019, CBED began with a staff of 80 or so people and not much reach; now, it has trained or recruited more than 10,000 educators across 25 states. Every year they bring together over 1,000 Black male educators for professional development, learning, and workshops.
On Feb. 17, the Department of Education issued a memo declaring that it cut the K-12 teacher training grants because the institutions and nonprofits doing the training “were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies” like antiracism, social justice, and the value of diversity.
RELATED: Erasing Black History? These Unions Say Not on Their Watch
“Schools should focus on merit-based education and equal opportunity rather than divisive ideological frameworks,” said a department spokesperson.
The move is part of President Donald Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and training. His administration believes DEI undercuts fairer, “merit-based” hiring and promotion, regardless of color.
But Howse says two programs that lost funding — the Teacher Quality Partnerships and Supporting Effective Educator Development — are instrumental in supporting teacher training and professional development, particularly in high-need schools. Those programs also focused on increasing teacher diversity, including the recruitment of Black educators.
Amid all that’s happening within the context of our society at the local, state, and federal level, we are pretty clear on what our mission is,” Howse tells Word In Black.
Contrary to the Education Department’s view, studies have found that teachers who receive DEI training report greater job satisfaction, reduced burnout, and improved classroom management skills. Shutting off $600 million for training, however, will make it harder for teachers already in the classroom, and harder to attract and retain Black teachers.
The fallout, Howse warns, could also include loss of teaching jobs as well as cuts to Title I funding for schools in high-poverty districts. Additionally, after-school programs could be reduced along with higher out-of-pocket costs for parents, some of whom are already struggling to make ends meet.
Reversing the Progress
“Post-Brown versus Board of Education, we lost 100,000 Black educators that we didn’t see again,” Howse says. “We don’t know where they ended up, but we know that they were no longer in the sector, and so when Black children were going into these predominantly white schools, Black talent didn’t necessarily make it.”
During the 2017-18 school year, the number of Black teachers increased from 191,000 to 239,000, reflecting a growth of 25%. Still, the proportion of Black teachers relative to the total teacher population has not significantly changed. Moreover, the turnover rate for Black teachers was 22% in 2022 — one of the highest in the profession.
Factors contributing to this high turnover include challenging working conditions, such as placement in schools with limited resources and high administrative turnover, as well as additional unpaid roles and responsibilities often expected of Black educators, such as informal mentoring and supporting Black students. Nevertheless, research continues to show the positive impact of Black teachers.
Despite the challenging path ahead, Howse says her organization will continue to see Black educators as a priority, particularly since studies show students of all races benefit from teacher diversity.
“What’s working is us being really rooted in Black teaching traditions. What’s really working is us understanding what Black pedagogy looks like in the classroom,” Howse tells Word In Black.
“What’s really working is us moving through with conviction, us moving with excitement, us moving in research-based strategy, and that we know it’s not just when black students have black teachers in front of them,” she says. “They succeed, but actually, everybody benefits from what we consider to be diversity, equity and opportunity.”
The post The Black Teacher Pipeline Matters Regardless of Trump appeared first on Word In Black.