General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "We want fewer Black teachers" [View all]FakeNoose
(33,023 posts)I totally agree with these sentiments. However the teachers' pay scales don't reflect that in the real world.
We both know that the high-income mostly-white school districts can afford well above average teacher salaries. While the inner city schools that are 50% black (or higher) can only afford the base scale of salaries for teachers. The good news is that there are way more openings in the poorer rural and inner-city school districts. So recent graduates who can't get a foot in the door of the suburban districts can hopefully get their start in the inner city schools. Think of "Welcome Back Kotter" - I believe that some gifted teachers would actually do well in that environment.
It also means that minority teachers would have a difficult time getting positions in the better-paying suburban school districts. I wish it weren't like that, and there should be a fairer way to redistribute the teaching talent among all the schools of a given area. It seems that once a teacher gets "in" with a good district, they stay until they retire.
Without a doubt, the students benefit from contact with non-white/minority teachers when they do get the chance to interact with them.