The Segregation of American Teachers

Researchers examined survey responses from more than 1,000 teachers in K-12 public schools across the country. They found that teachers of color are more likely to be assigned to low-income schools that fail to meet federal standards. White teachers, on the other hand, are disproportionately placed in higher-achieving, more affluent schools.

These patterns present three key problems, says Jennifer Holladay, interim director of the SPLC's Teaching Tolerance program.

First, the limited cross-race exposure of white teachers means they're less equipped to work with increasingly diverse student bodies. White teachers comprise the vast majority of the teaching force, yet 42% of public school students are students of color.

"The survey showed quite clearly that white teachers, as a group, not only grew up in homogeneous environments, but also work with few colleagues of color today," said Holladay. "They have comparatively little personal experience working and living across racial lines."

Second, white students –- the most racially segregated population in U.S. schools –- are unlikely to be exposed to educators of color, and that, Holladay says, undermines their preparation for the future.

"Decades of research have proven that when people from diverse backgrounds interact, prejudices and stereotypes can melt away," she said. "With few teachers of color, and few students of color, around them, white students miss out on key opportunities to learn how to thrive in diverse workplaces and in a diverse democracy."

Third, educators of color –- those most likely to be working in high-needs schools -- are more likely to leave the teaching force. Teachers in schools with fewer resources, higher poverty rates and lower test scores report a greater likelihood of changing professions. Because teachers of color are disproportionately placed in these schools, they're more likely to leave.

"This creates a revolving door, where teachers of color are so dissatisfied by their experiences in high-poverty schools that they leave," said Holladay. "Such attrition makes it difficult for these schools to build faculties with in-depth experience and elevated levels of preparation and credentialing, thus shortchanging the largely of-color students who attend them.

This is the first of four planned reports based on the national teachers' survey. Future issues will examine working conditions, teacher attitudes about diversity, and the factors that help teachers succeed in diverse school settings.