Teacher diversity could become state education policy goal

Burnsville student teacher Tyler Koonce never had a teacher of color when he was in school. Now students come up to him and say things like, “Oh, it’s awesome, you’re the first teacher of color that I’ve ever had” and “It’s awesome that we have a black science teacher,” he told the House Education Innovation Policy Committee Tuesday.

“I never really saw teaching as a profession, even all the way up till high school, because I didn’t really see anyone like me in that profession,” he said.

As Minnesota’s student population has become increasingly diverse, the state’s teacher population has remained overwhelmingly white. HF2944, sponsored by Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul), would make improving student access to “effective and more diverse teachers” one of the state’s core education policy goals and require the Office of Higher Education to develop recommendations on how to reach this goal.

Rep. Carlos Mariani

The committee approved the bill, which now goes to the House Education Finance Committee. A companion bill, SF2610, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Torres Ray (DFL-Mpls), awaits a hearing in the Senate Education Committee.

Students of color and American Indian students make up nearly 30 percent of Minnesota’s student body, Mariani said, but less than 4percent of teachers are of color or American Indian.

LISTEN Full audio of Tuesday's hearing

Robbie Burnett, a teacher recruitment coordinator at Minnesota State University, Mankato, said the barriers to recruiting more diverse teachers are “structural,” including costs associated with licensing exams and teacher preparation curriculum that is not “culturally competent.”

Asked by Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City) about studies showing the effects of teachers of color in narrowing the achievement gap, she said data are limited precisely because there are so few teachers of color.

Gov. Mark Dayton’s supplemental budget proposal includes $12.4 to address the teacher shortage by diversifying and increasing the teacher workforce, including expanding the Minnesota American Indian Teacher Training Program and creating pathways for paraprofessionals to pursue full licensure.

Rep. Peggy Flanagan (DFL-St. Louis Park) called Mariani’s bill a “really good start” to addressing racial equity in education.

“If we’re going to turn the curve in Minnesota and close some of those gaps, we need to come together and figure out multiple strategies for doing that,” she said.

Flanagan said it wasn’t until she was a sophomore at the University of Minnesota that she had a teacher who looked like her, Dr. Brenda Child, who is also Ojibwe.

“Everything changed, there was a switch, something clicked,” she said. “I graduated Phi Beta Kappa because I saw myself reflected in my teacher and I saw myself reflected in my curriculum.”