EduShyster has noticed an ominous trend: as reform advances, as charter schools open, the number of black teachers and veteran teachers shrinks dramatically.
In Chicago, since “reform” started in 1995, the proportion of black teachers has dropped from 45% to 19%.
In Boston, the numbers in the new charters are shocking.
But, as our friend EduShyster notes: The achievement gap is the civil rights issue of our time—which is why it may be necessary for us to destroy a large part of the Black middle class in order to achieve our goal of closing said gap.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is not the trend in Atlanta Public Schools where charges of reverse racism and connections of the black sorority network have been recently been in the press. Just writing that out would be tantamount to being called racist in the current power struggles that are running through the educational systems here.
LikeLike
In 1968 at a Chicago suburban high school, the staff and administrators were about 90% white males. By about 1985, that number changed to 60% female of different races. The ladies did as well as the men in all areas.
Typically, the turn over among the women was greater than the men for a variety of reasons. This helped keep payroll costs down.
LikeLike
I know people who have gone to work in the EAA schools that were taken over in Detroit and they said there are a lot of white teachers. ( Virtually all of the staff were fired in these schools when they were taken over.) But, I have heard that a black sorority has a lot of influence in DPS. Someone told me that the EM appointed a recent young grad to run an important position in the district over veterans. The EM claimed he would leave if the EM law in Michigan is overturned. I hope he does!!!
LikeLike
I do not understand the comment: “why it may be necessary for us to destroy a large part of the Black middle class in order to achieve our goal of closing said gap.”
Destroy the black middle class? Close the gap?
Please explain and thank you for all that you do. This is my first time commenting and I want to especially thank you for all that you have done to bring the attempt to take away the rights of Bridgeport. CT voters under the guise of the fairytale that Vallas has improved schools tremendously.
LikeLike
The comment was clearly satirical.
In district after district, corporate reformers claim they want to close the achievement gap–which they do not do–yet fire black teachers and destroy the black middle class.
This has happened in DC, in NYC, in Chicago, and in New Orleans.
LikeLike
Thanks. I missed the satire and just got confused.
LikeLike
It is because like my own mid 20s daughter trained in education but cannot find a
traditional teaching job, she wants to be able to pay her college loans back. She is not into the politics of
teaching. She is just happy to have a job. The new teachers are focused on one thing- teaching the children in
in their classrooms. They are not into pensions, job securities/protections, 401k plans etc.etc. Those concepts are so far removed from them.
All they want is a paycheck to pay back their college loans and be able to live independenlt if possible–so they tolerate the conditions. For many of them due to the pressures of the new evaluation and the hig stakes testing, and staying from morning till night, they will burn out and not even last beyond 5-7 years…This is why you see many young white girls in teaching-but even they will burn out.The concept of a long term teacher is dying out and fast thanks to the greedy and self serving politicians and school administrators pushing the goals fo RacettTop and ALEC education policies.
Get rid of the corporate money infiltrating education. But I don’t see that happening for a long time to come..I doubt I will see things change in my lifetime. Too much big corporate $$ from billionaires like the Gates, the Waltons, Murdock, Bloomberg, Eli Broad, Jeb Bush, and other politicians too numerous to name to change the direction…PArents can do it. They need to be educated. They need to have their children opt out of high stakes testing. They have to stop the RacettTop mandates that say high school kids must be tested in order to graduate and get a diploma…..Parents can do this if they are informed. They are hearing on eside of the propaganda over and over and over. They need to hear from those who have the educational credentials, certifications and diplomas and can make intelligent and real decisions on student performance, achievement and success. Instead parents are hearing from the billionaires where money talks..they are clueless as to what goes on in a classroom, have no educational training, certifications, degrees, or school credentials….Would you want a wealthy lawyer with money and no credentials in medical training operate on you? So why would you have a clueless- greedy for profit, self serving Bloomberg type politician force schools to change into charters, vouchers and privitization free enterprise entities where profit is made by investors in test taking schemes, charter schemes and for profit schemes?
LikeLike
I agree. I’ve said as much in other words.
Your daughter, if she is to survive, has 3 choices. Go into counseling, administration or find another career.
I survived 38 years in the classroom and retired. I just never thought it would get this bad this fast.
In 45 years when the the new hires of Jan. 2011 in IL may retire with full benefits, there may be a surprise. The state may just say they are broke and have failed to fund the pubic retirement funds. Then these people with smaller pension than those previous to 2011 will have to take an additional cut as IL is planning to do to those retired today.
Moral: Don’t bet the rest of your life on promises of the government.
LikeLike
What are the numbers in Boston? I live here and am involved in pushing back on Ed Deform, but I haven’t heard anything about this.
LikeLike
Are you a white, middle class person? If so, you must have noticed, as I have, that this group of citizens has been affected by the recession, just as almost everyone else has. This is what it means in practical terms:
The children of the middle class are having a very difficult time getting jobs in the higher paying fields. This means that public service jobs, such as teaching, suddenly look good to them, but only to the girls because many men still eschew these jobs, even when they are desperate. Among my friends and relatives, the young men will take part-time jobs at the local colleges or will work for companies owned by relatives before accepting jobs as K-12 teachers. As always in our country, that job is good enough for the “girls” but not the white men.
So those in power are now working hard to take jobs from the black middle class and handing them to the children of the white middle and upper middle classes. (e.g. the young Cornell grad who can’t land the job of her dreams. Dad advises her to apply for Teach for America until “things improve.”) Anyone who has studied history knows that this is not a new phenomenon. It has happened during every severe economic downturn and will likely happen again.
Hopefully, the people who are being unfairly deprived of their jobs will fight it (as Chicago teachers did) and will be supported by citizens who are ready to defend others who are being unjustly targeted.
LikeLike
In DC, when Rhee fired all of those teachers, many of them were minority teachers. I was mortified because I know the pride that many of them had being in the profession. It goes back to when the only good and respectable job a Black woman could have was as a teacher. My grandmother and my aunts, growing up in South Carolina, were teachers and proud of what they were able to accomplish. That type of thinking has continued through the generations.
My mother wanted me to be a teacher because it was, in her eyes, a good profession (and that’s how she viewed teaching, as a profession). I chose not to because when I came of age, more doors had been opened to me thanks to others who had come before me.
My point is that African Americans still view being a part of the field of education as an honor and those positions are looked upon by others with great respect.
When people diss teachers and treat them unfairly, particularly minority teachers, it outrages me on a very deep level for those reasons.
Dora
LikeLike
Well said.
LikeLike
When we care more about the color of a teacher’s (or educator’s) skin than whether they are a good, effective teacher is more proof that racism is alive and well. Just for the record….that only ‘bad’ (and they were pretty bad) teachers I have known (and there have been several in my 20+ years in the field of education) have been Caucasian……as am I.
LikeLike
Well, I guess we all know what “the best and brightest” is now a code for…
LikeLike
I would hate to see a school district with only young inexperienced teachers. Age and experience improve your skills, teach you what is important, and give you perspective.
The years teach you that the anger and emotional ups and downs of teenagers are not forever (even if they last an entire school year). They are merely small passing storms. The years teach you that test scores and assessments will eventually pass too like snow drifts or raindrops, leaving behind hopefully a young adult with good character and the means to live a happy life. All the talk about assessments and reforms becomes less important. Eventually, tests and standards changes, reforms blow over and become forgotten, and there are new administrators. But the mission to build character and to save souls remains.
It is the older teachers (especially those who are part of the community) that are most invested in the school and most invested in the students as people. It is older teachers who give younger teachers advice and mentoring. Young shoots are tender and green and swirl around in the wind in dramatic eddies. But old oaks give shade, give shelter, give comfort, and give life.
LikeLike
So true, wise, and insightful. Thank you Kevin Lee.
LikeLike
Yes, thank you. I very much needed to hear this said and to have it in print so I can reread it when I need to.
LikeLike
A friend of mine commented on a high school where we both worked and lost jobs. She is now subbing there and noticed that they have a new paint job and a lot of fresh, new faces. Of course, they will always have fresh, new faces. It’s easy! Just fire a good percentage in the first four years or deny them tenure if they make it to the end of four years. The old timers are all counting the days until retirement and hoping the state won’t have stolen their pensions.
LikeLike
I’ve read that a lot of people have retired and retired early. Once they collect a pension, there is no question if it is “earned.” In the 80’s there was a big push to hire women. My high school went from 90% men to 60% women. I notice the same thing in the medical profession, which is a good thing. Women have smaller fingers. lol
LikeLike
This is really well-put, Kevin. Unfortunately, those who are in charge in the deform movement care nothing about improved skills, wisdom, character or perspective in teachers. The only thing they care about is cost and test results. Who better to teach in these schools than single young people? They are energetic, ambitious, desperate for a paying job and best of all, so wet behind the ears that they actually think the drill and practice routine their corporate overlords have given them to do is teaching. It took me about 5 years to figure out what was really most important in preparing kids for their futures and about 2 more to put that wisdom solidly in place in my educational practice. If I were teaching in one of these schools, I would have been gone before then.
Ironically, many charter and voucher schools are as expensive or more expensive than the schools they replace and still don’t get better results.
After decades of struggle to gain entry to the middle class, why would any minority consider going to the effort and taking on the debt to get a college degree so they could take a working class job with no future? That’s what teaching is now. I’d rather be managing a McDonald’s. At least if I did a really good job there, I might have a chance at some advancement. As a teacher of 19 years with 15 more until retirement, the very best thing I can hope for is to not be fired and replaced by one of these younger, cheaper teachers and that my pension will still be in place if I survive the job until retirement. Both these hopes seem pretty slim, right now, at least here in Wisconsin.
LikeLike
You have the situation 100% nailed.
I’m retired and concerned about my “earned” pension in IL that is protected by the IL Constitution. Right now it is “access to medical” or “1/2 the COLA to a maximum of 3%” on the table after the election.
LikeLike
When I retired only three teachers were over 60. One is left. Five are in their 50’s and the rest are 40’s or younger and are female. New hires are all under 30 and are female. Currently three are out on maternity leave. Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 14:50:42 +0000 To: rke25@hotmail.com
LikeLike