By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Rhonda Hicks could have kept working into her 60s. She loved teaching and loved her students
in Philadelphia’s public schools. As a Black woman, she took pride in being a role model for many children of
color.
But other aspects of the job deteriorated, such as growing demands from administrators over what and how to teach.
And when she retires in a few weeks, she will join a disproportionately high number of Black and Hispanic teachers
in her state who are leaving the profession.
“I enjoy actually teaching, that part I’ve always enjoyed,” said Hicks, 59. “Sometimes it’s a little stressful.
Sometimes the kids can be difficult. But it’s the higher-ups: ‘Do it this way or don’t do it at all.'”
Teachers are leaving jobs in growing numbers, state reports show. The turnover in some cases is highest among
teachers of color. A major culprit: stress — from pandemic-era burnout, low pay and the intrusion of politics into
classrooms. But the burdens can be heavier in schools serving high-poverty communities that also have higher
numbers of teachers of color.
In Philadelphia, a city with one of the highest concentrations of Black residents in the U.S., the proportion of
Black teachers has been sliding. Two decades ago, it was about one-third. Last fall, it fell to below 23%,
according to district figures.
In the school buildings where Hicks taught, most teachers were white. She said she and other teachers of color were
expected to give more of themselves in a district where half the students are Black.
“A lot of times when you see teachers that are saving Black and brown kids on TV, it’s always the white ones,”
Hicks said. “There are Black teachers and Hispanic teachers out there that do the same thing in real life, all the
time.”
Nationally, about 80% of American public school teachers are white, even though white students no longer represent
a majority in public schools. Having teachers who reflect the race of their students is important, researchers say, to provide students with role models who have insight into their culture and life experience.
The departures are undoing some recent success that schools have had in bringing on more Black and Hispanic
teachers. Turnover is higher among newer teachers. And researchers have found that teachers of color, who tend to
have less seniority, often are affected disproportionately by layoffs.
In Pennsylvania, Black teachers were more than twice as likely to leave the profession as white teachers after the
2021-22 school year, according to a data analysis by Ed Fuller, an education professor at Penn State. Hispanic and
multiracial teachers had a similar ratio, of around twice as likely.
Black and Hispanic teachers are more likely to be uncertified or teaching in an underfunded district, all of which
is associated with someone leaving the profession at a higher rate, Fuller said.
“They’re in more precarious teaching positions, meaning you’re in a position with less resources and worse working
conditions, so you’re more likely to quit no matter who you are,” Fuller said.
Sharif El-Mekki, a former Philadelphia teacher who leads the Center for Black Educator Development, said schools
around the country come to him seeking help in recruiting teachers of color. But they don’t have plans to retain
them, such as providing opportunities to help shape policies and curricula.
To address the problem, schools can start by ensuring students of color have better experiences in school
themselves and offering them opportunities to consider teaching, El-Mekki said. Black teachers also are more likely
stay on in school systems that have Black leaders, he said, as well as a culture and approaches to teaching that
are anti-racist.
“We need to think about, ‘How are they experiencing my school?'” he said. “If they are having a better experience
with us, they are more likely to stay.”
Attrition by teachers of color can vary greatly by state or region. Overall, it has been higher compared with white
teachers for two decades, since around the time federal policies began encouraging the closure of schools with low
test scores, said Travis Bristol, a professor of teacher education and education policy at the University of
California-Berkeley.
In underfunded schools with large populations of Black and Hispanic children, teachers say they can expect more
responsibilities, fewer resources and more children troubled by poverty and violence.
“I’m still in the classroom because this is my version of resistance and pushing back on a system that was not
designed for folks that look like me and kids that look like me,” said Sofia Gonzalez, a 14-year teacher of Puerto
Rican heritage in Chicago-area public schools. “We as teachers of color have to find so much inner strength inside
of us to sustain our careers in education.”
The last few years have been a trying stretch for teachers everywhere. They’ve had to navigate COVID-19, a pivot to
distance learning and the struggles with misbehavior and mental health that accompanied students’ return to
classrooms.
Then there’s the pay: Educators’ salaries have been falling behind their college-educated peers in other
professions.
Teachers unions have warned of flagging morale, and there are signs lately that more educators are heading for the
exits. Data from at least a handful of states — including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas and Washington — is
showing an increase in teacher attrition.
Black teachers reported significantly higher rates of burnout and being significantly more likely to leave their
job than white teachers, according to research sponsored by two national teachers unions and published in June by
the Rand Corp. think tank.
Chantle Simpson, 36, taught her last day of school this spring in Frisco, Texas, ending her 11-year career as a
teacher.
She described an exodus of her fellow teachers of color from the profession amid growing expectations from
administrators, who put more work on teachers by repeatedly appeasing demands from parents.
Administrators — including those who are Black or Hispanic — put more pressure on Black and Hispanic teachers, she
said.
“They believe we can handle more,” Simpson said. “Because we develop relationships better, the kids understand us
more, so they’re more likely to behave for us or do what we ask them to. So we get fitted with the children who are
more challenging or have more requirements. It’s crazy.”
That leaves those teachers with less time for the rest of their better-behaved students, Simpson said.
“I always was conflicted by it,” Simpson said. “It’s mixed with praise, but it’s a punishment. ‘Oh, you’re so great
at building relationships, the kids really appreciate being with you, they respond to you.’ But at the same time,
you’re increasing my workload, you’re increasing the amount of attention I have to give to one child versus my
whole class.”
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Follow Marc Levy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/timelywriter
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The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.