State education leaders now say they're committed to increasing diversity among teachers and administrators after the Tennessee Department of Education found a lack of diversity between teachers and the students they serve, according to a new report.
The state said 37 percent of Tennessee students were students of color in the 2017-2018 school year, but teachers of color only made up 13 percent of the state's education work force, and administrators of color made up only 20 percent.
Nationally, students of color make up 51 percent of all students, but teachers of color only made up 18 percent of the teacher population.
For half of Tennessee's 147 school districts, at least 95 percent of teachers were white.
40 districts had no African American teachers, and 50 districts had no Hispanic teachers.
Only seven districts had more than 20 percent teachers of color-- all of those districts were ones where students of color made up more than 50 percent of the student body. But, there were multiple districts with more than 50 percent students of color that had fewer than 20 percent teachers of color.
In accordance with state law, the report news release said, TDOE "recommends that school boards and local school districts establish reasonable, incremental goals for recruitment, employment, and retention of teachers of color. To set these goals, awareness of the importance and amount of teacher diversity is the first step."
“Building a strong educator workforce that reflects the diverse backgrounds of our student body will benefit each and every one of Tennessee’s students,” Commissioner McQueen said in the release. “The department is committed to increasing awareness and providing supports and resources for local leaders as we work toward our goal of providing all students access to highly effective educators and the chance to learn from teachers who have a variety of perspectives."