ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070079
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
ROANOKE city schools are right to be concerned about the declining number of black teachers in its classrooms.
The figures tell the story. In a district where 40 percent of students are black, fewer than 14 percent of the teachers are. Among administrators, the picture is brighter; even so, only 21 percent are black. And in both instances, the percentage is declining, as experienced black educators reach retirement age.
In trying to address the situation, however, school officials should bear in mind that local conditions contribute in only a limited way to the problem. The underlying difficulty is a national situation: While 34 percent of students are black or of another minority group, only 10 percent of teachers are.
For Roanoke, this suggests that any local effort can contribute in only a limited way to solving the problem. Yes, Roanoke should intensify recruiting efforts, should do as much as it can to attract promising black teaching applicants (or, for that matter, promising applicants of any race).
But contrary to the comment of School Board member Melinda Payne, the people are not out there - or at least not in nearly the numbers we might like them to be, and not in numbers that make it realistic to strive for a faculty whose racial makeup reflects that of the student body.
Once the underlying source of the problem is understood, some remedies appear to hold more promise than others. In the long run, the only way to raise the percentage of minority teachers and then sustain it is to interest more minorities, particularly young people, in the profession.
Several of Roanoke Superintendent Wayne Harris' proposals to try to boost the percentage of black teachers (or, failing that, simply to maintain the current percentage in the face of upcoming retirements) are geared in that direction. Expanding a summer internship program, and also a tuition-assistance plan to help instructional aides become teachers, seem worthwhile endeavors that would expand the pool of prospective teachers.
But among the superintendent's recommendations is a real clinker: offering $2,000 payments to 10 black teachers next year who agree to stay in the system for two years. This rewards people already in teaching, rather than strike at the real issue: encouraging more minorities to become interested.
Moreover, the notion of formal, race-based pay differentials is as inappropriate today as it was in the days when salary discrimination worked in the other direction, against black teachers.
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