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04/06/2005: "ACORN report on minority teachers"

Report issued by Philadelphia Acorn today detailing the few minority teachers entering the profession.

They're vaguely accusatory of education schools, which I think is unfair, as universities can't force folks to change their majors, nor can they change the low status/low pay of teaching positions. I also wonder if the data might have changed had they included graduate programs and/or alternative routes to certification.

The "grow your own" approach sounds good, but there is one obvious issues- many NTAs and secretaries do not have BAs, so a university program would have to be fairly extensive, i..e., it's not like developing a quickie certification where someone is entering with a degree in chemistry or English. Extensive means expensive and one of the truly appalling things about Philadelphia is how little support staff is paid.