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Louisiana’s teacher workforce is significantly less diverse than its population of college-educated adults, according to a National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) report. Teach for America Executive Director Ge’ron Tatum says some of this is due to limited pathways and elimination of teacher prep programs.
“There’s retention issues just due to lack of support, a lack of resources, and then of course we all know teacher pay is inadequate.”
Louisiana teachers earn $5,000 less than the Southern regional average and $15,000 below the national average, deterring people of color from entering or staying in the profession. Tatum stress that representation matters, as research shows teachers of color significantly benefit student outcomes.
“Our kids need excellent teachers, and there’s so much research that points to kids having someone in their classroom standing in front of them teaching that looks like them that leads to greater results.”
Tatum says to address this, strategies include recruiting from historically Black colleges, offering financial support to prospective teachers.
“There’s the Ameri Corps education award that they also receive, and then directly related to teacher diversity we work along side the black educators promise grant and that adds additional funds for our corps members entering the profession.”
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