Do districts really want teachers and leaders of color

And what happens when they get them?
It was interesting to read this piece in EdWeek this morning, a reflection from a Black male teacher:

I was tired of being looked to as a disciplinarian. I was exhausted by the mandates of no-excuses and the confines of a curriculum and instructional techniques where I had little to no say. I loved my students, but it wasn't enough.
Valuing and supporting teachers after they are hired is often more important than simply hiring them in the first place. Too many districts instead offer little to no support for Black teachers, overutilize them for disciplinary purposes, and do not respect them for both their content knowledge and instructional skills.

...with this piece from the Washington Post discussing implicit bias in school climate reports.

In a Dec. 28 memo to the county school board, Smith said he looked at an elementary school climate survey showing the percentage of employees who said “staff morale is positive in this school.” This was after the Montgomery County Education Association teachers union told him the district should do more about schools with low morale.
“I became concerned because of the racial makeup of the principals of both lists,” Smith said. “I determined that 15 of the 18 principals with the most positive ratings were White/Caucasian and 11 of the 15 principals with the lowest rating were Black/African American or Hispanic.”
He told the board that “cultural proficiency and implicit bias” should be considered in creating future surveys. “To use an instrument that results in the over-identification of any race, gender, age or culture is unacceptable,” he said.

Recruiting isn't even half of the issue. Retaining and valuing teachers of color is a long-term, sustained need. 

Who is refusing compromise?

Be sure you read the Globe coverage of the charter debate today, and, after you notice that they once again seem not to be able to manage to find anyone to talk on the other side other than the MTA (sigh...), note who it is that appears to be unwilling to compromise here.

The Senate, he says, will look not just at expanding the number of charter schools allowed in the state, but at a wide range of issues that reflect critics’ concerns about charters — from financing, to governance, to admission and retention of hard-to-educate populations, like special needs students and English language learners. 

The approach does not sit well with charter school supporters. “We have the highest-performing public charter school sector in the nation,” said Mary Jo Meisner, executive vice president of communications at the Boston Foundation, which has been a strong charter advocate. “Opening that up to radical change is a scary thought.”

Admitting and retaining the same kids the districts serve...being public about finance and governance decisions. Radical. Scary thought.
Right.

Teach for America in Florida

Helpful article showing the "you want to do WHAT?" aspect of Teach for America, this time from Florida:
Concerned about teacher retention?

In August, about 100 Teach For America recruits will arrive to work as teachers in Duval County Public Schools. If past trends hold, as few as 11 of them will still be teaching here in traditional public schools five years from now.

How about budgeting?

Officials from those districts say the financial investment in recruitment and training, plus the replacement cost when those teachers leave, makes the program impractical given the limited funding for education...Cobb would have paid $8,000 per teacher to TFA for recruitment and training. Duval will use the federal grant money to pay TFA $3,000 per teacher for recruitment and training.

 Not an experiment we want to make, Worcester.