[00:03.84]are leaving their jobs in growing numbers.
[00:08.88]In some cases, retirement is highest
[00:12.72]among teachers from minority groups.
[00:16.80]One reason is stress from burnout
[00:20.24]during the COVID-19 pandemic.
[00:24.20]Another reason, teachers say, is low pay.
[00:29.20]And another reason teachers give
[00:32.32]is what they call the introduction
[00:35.00]of politics in the classroom.
[00:38.64]But the stress can be worse
[00:41.04]in schools serving poor communities
[00:44.24]that have a lot of minority teachers.
[00:48.36]Rhonda Hicks is leaving her teaching job
[00:51.96]in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
[00:55.16]She said she loved teaching and loved her students.
[01:00.96]As a Black woman, she took pride
[01:03.64]in being a role model for minority children.
[01:08.28]But growing demands from administrators
[01:11.60]over what and how to teach
[01:14.84]made it harder for her to work.
[01:18.28]When she retires, she will join
[01:21.32]a disproportionate number of Black
[01:24.40]and Hispanic teachers in her state
[01:27.60]who are quitting.
[01:29.76]"I enjoy actually teaching, t
[01:32.68]hat part I've always enjoyed,"
[01:35.48]said 59-year-old Hicks.
[01:38.80]"But it's the higher-ups:
[01:41.16]‘Do it this way or don't do it at all.'"
[01:44.44]That, she said, was stressful.
[01:48.08]Philadelphia has one of the highest percentages
[01:52.12]of Blacks in any major U.S. city.
[01:56.24]But the number of Black teachers has been falling.
[02:01.00]Twenty years ago,
[02:02.76]about one-third of teachers were Black.
[02:07.40]Last fall, that percentage fell
[02:10.24]to below 23 percent.
[02:13.88]The Associated Press reports that about 80 percent
[02:18.72]of American public school teachers are white.
[02:23.52]White students, however,
[02:25.64]are not a majority in public schools.
[02:29.84]Having teachers
[02:31.36]who are the race of their students is important,
[02:35.00]researchers say.
[02:37.44]The idea is that teachers can provide students
[02:41.32]with role models who share their culture
[02:44.76]and life experience.
[02:47.24]Retirements could affect recent efforts
[02:51.60]to bring more Black and Hispanic teachers
[02:54.76]into public schools.
[02:57.40]New, inexperienced teachers
[03:00.28]are more likely to quit.
[03:03.24]Researchers say minority teachers often
[03:06.92]are affected disproportionately by layoffs.
[03:11.60]Ed Fuller is an education professor
[03:15.00]at Pennsylvania State University.
[03:18.68]In a report, he wrote that Black teachers in Pennsylvania
[03:23.92]were over two times more likely
[03:27.04]to leave their jobs than white teachers
[03:30.44]after the 2021-22 school year.
[03:36.20]The numbers for Hispanic teachers were similar.
[03:41.20]"They're in more precarious teaching positions,
[03:45.00]meaning you're in a position
[03:47.24]with less resources
[03:49.20]and worse working conditions,
[03:52.28]so you're more likely to quit
[03:55.40]no matter who you are," Fuller said.
[03:59.56]States are reporting different rates
[04:02.20]of retirement for minority teachers.
[04:05.76]But Travis Bristol said minority retirement rates
[04:10.36]have been higher than rates for whites for 20 years.
[04:15.88]Bristol is an education professor
[04:18.84]at the University of California-Berkeley.
[04:23.04]He blamed federal policies
[04:25.64]from around 20 years ago
[04:28.28]that began leading to the closure of schools
[04:32.08]where students repeatedly had low test scores.
[04:37.20]In poor schools with large populations
[04:40.76]of Black and Hispanic children,
[04:43.28]teachers say they have more responsibilities.
[04:48.08]They also say they have fewer resources
[04:51.72]and more children
[04:53.44]who are troubled by poverty and violence.
[04:58.28]Chantle Simpson is a 36-year-old teacher in Texas
[05:03.84]who quit teaching after 11 years this spring.
[05:09.24]She said other minority teachers are leaving
[05:12.84]because of growing expectations from administrators.
[05:18.24]"They believe we can handle more," Simpson said.
[05:22.80]"So, we get fitted with the children
[05:25.48]who are more challenging
[05:27.20]or have more requirements. It's crazy."
[05:32.12]That leaves teachers who deal with difficult children
[05:36.04]less time for the rest of their students
[05:38.88]who behave better, Simpson said.
[05:42.76]I'm Caty Weaver.
_____________________
Words in This Story
stress –n. a state of mental tension
burnout — n. when a person becomes physically and emotionally tired from doing a difficult job for a long time
role model — n. a person who children look up to and who they try to imitate
disproportionate — adj. showing a difference that is not in proportion to another set of numbers which causes people to wonder what the cause of the imbalance is
layoff — n. when workers' employment is ended for reasons beyond their control
professor— n. a teacher of high rank at a college or university
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