Faculty Diversity

Out of all the 112 Parkway-hired classroom teachers at South High only three are of color. South High would benefit from having more diverse classroom teachers to match the diversity of the student body. This would have a huge affect on south high and what teachers students look up too because of the varieties of the teachers. South High should have a more diverse range of teachers to teach at South. This would give the students a chance to connect better with their teachers and they maybe be even closer with them than any other teacher.

According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 1739 students attend South High at present time. 9.1 percent of the students are african american, 8.8 percent are asian and 74.1 percent are caucasian. If South High had an equal percentage of teachers by race that means we should have eight african american teachers and nine asian teachers. This shows that we don’t have a lot of teachers of color. The school’s diversity throughout the students is much more spread out than the teachers and this should change in my opinions. Having minority teachers will give minority students a chance to connect more with teachers of their color.

Some people say that the school’s diversity is not that important and there’s no need to worry about it. I disagree with the completely. I think it is very important to know about the school’s diversity and why we should have a more diverse school. It could change the way people look up to teachers of their own color. The students could become closer to their teachers and how much safer they can feel in the school. We have teachers that are caucasian that are all over the school, so why can’t we also have some teachers that are of color? Some people might also say that all students can connect with all students the same way. While this is true, if we had more asian teachers and more african american teachers then the students will be able to have a better connection with their teachers because they are the same race.

We have what is called an Achievement Gap here at South. An achievement gap occurs when one group of one ethnicity or race outperforms another group of race or ethnicity. This is showing more in teachers than it is in students  According to the US Department of Education, roughly seven percent of African Americans are in the teaching force. Also according to the US Department of Education five percent of them are female and the other two percent are male. This would be perfect example of why we should be more diverse when it comes to Parkway-hired teachers at South High.

So in conclusion, I think that South High should have more teachers of color because it is important for south high to have equal amount of teachers at south high so we can have a more diverse community. South high is known for welcoming students all around no matter what race or ethnicity you are. This should be a big wake up call to South High about diversity.