ATLANTA – Georgia schools need to diversify their teaching ranks and offer students more career pathway options, school teachers, administrators and education leaders said Thursday.
A state Senate study committee heard testimony from a series of Black male educators that more Black male teachers are needed in the schools to mentor Black boys. Only 2% of the nation’s elementary and secondary teachers are Black men.
Hiring more Black male teachers would help lower high school dropout rates and raise graduation rates, said Syntel Brown, a member of the Griffin-Spalding County Board of Education.
“Black male students benefit from having Black male teachers,” he said.
Several of Thursday’s speakers identified barriers to hiring more Black male teachers, including low pay, lack of opportunities for advancement and insufficient guidance and support.
Such obstacles make it difficult to retain the few Black male teachers schools are able to recruit, said Derek Mosley, an Atlanta educator with 25 years of experience.
“There’s an exodus of Black male teachers,” he said. “We’re not just losing teachers. We’re losing effective teachers.”
Several speakers suggested that boosting career pathway options in Georgia schools would be one way to lure more Black males into the teaching profession.
The Georgia Department of Education stopped offering career-tech diplomas in 2008 and went to a one-size-fits all system that steered all students toward college, Matt Cardoza, director of external affairs for the DOE, told senators Thursday.
Switching to multiple career pathways tailored more to students’ interests would reduce the dropout rate, Cardoza said.
“One-size-fit-all doesn’t work,” he said. “We know we lose students because they don’t see the relevance.”
Jean-David Desamour, a middle school teacher in Gwinnett County, said students more interested in a technical career than going to college for four years can earn competitive salaries in such occupations as plumbing and welding.
“We are inundated with a system that is geared toward students going to college,” he said. “Not every student is ‘college material.’ … We need to tap into what they’re good at early.”
But Sen. Freddie Powell Sims said convincing Georgians of the importance of learning technical skills is an uphill battle.
“They think technical colleges are for ‘C’ students or ‘D’ students,” said Sims, D-Dawson. “[But offering career-tech pathways] is the most sensible thing to do.”
“We should continue to promote college, but many students prefer to take a path to learning a trade – especially those currently in high demand,” added Sen. P.K. Martin IV, R-Lawrenceville, the study committee’s chairman. “This committee’s goal will be to determine what is in the best interests of our students moving forward.”