Boston falls short on teacher diversity

The Boston public school system has made no progress in hiring black and Hispanic teachers during the last decade even as it has recruited a more diverse group of principals.

Nearly half of Boston's 58,600 students are black, but only a quarter of the teachers are -- the same proportion as in 1995 when Thomas W. Payzant became superintendent.

Hispanic students, the district's fastest growing ethnic group, make up 33 percent of the city's student body, but Hispanics are just 9 percent of the 5,246 teachers. Asians comprise 9 percent of Boston students, while Asian teachers are at 5 percent.

While union contractual limitations meant Payzant had to wait for teacher vacancies to change who was in front of the classrooms, he had direct control over the hiring of principals and has replaced 75 percent of school leaders during his tenure, school officials said. Black principals now make up nearly half of the 148 principals, a 58 percent increase since 1995; Hispanics represent 16 percent, a 64 percent jump.

Boosting the diversity of Boston's teaching staff is crucial at a time when educators are worrying about raising the academic achievement of black and Hispanic students, and black males in particular, say parents, students, and educators.

''It's important for students to see that people who have such an impact on their lives look like them, sound like them, and have similar life experiences," said Joy Oliver, an African-American principal at the Higginson Elementary School in Roxbury. ''I tell my students all the time, 'I grew up in this neighborhood. I played in this schoolyard. And no matter what anybody else told me, I knew I could make a success out of my life.' "

Oliver became a principal in 2001 after teaching in the city for nearly two decades. She grew up in Roxbury, attended public schools, and graduated from the former Girls Latin School in 1973, having had only one nonwhite teacher. Her eighth-grade science teacher was black.

School system officials, who are stepping up efforts this school year to recruit black and Hispanic teachers, particularly men, say it has not been easy to increase the diversity in the teaching ranks in a city with a reputation for prickly race relations.

The city has to fight off a perception that Boston is unfriendly to minorities, in part because of the tumult surrounding busing in the 1970s.

''It's different than, say, moving to Atlanta or Chicago or New York," said Jesse Solomon, director of the Boston Teacher Residency program. ''It's something our city has to work on."

As part of a series of court orders in the 1970s, a federal judge directed the school system to diversify its overwhelmingly white teaching staffs by hiring and maintaining a teaching force which was at least 25 percent black and 10 percent Hispanic, Asian, and other minority groups. The order still stands, said Barbara Fields, who is in charge of the school system's Office of Equity, which tracks the school system's hiring practices.

Boston made tremendous progress in the years following the order, but came to a standstill after reaching the percentages laid out in the court order by the late 1980s. District officials acknowledge the system still has a long way to go, and say they are committed to going beyond the guidelines set by the decades-old order.

''I'm not sure we were as aggressive and focused on increasing teacher diversity as we should have been," said Barbara McGann, the Boston public schools' assistant superintendent over personnel. ''A role model can often get through and inspire a child to learn in ways that someone who isn't a reflection of that child's culture isn't able to do."

Boston high school students from different ethnic and racial backgrounds said they'd like to see more minority teachers in their schools.

''It's good to have teachers who are the same as the students, so the teachers understand the students more and vice versa," said Xiomara Vides, a senior at the Media Communications Technology High School in West Roxbury.

Vides, whose family is from El Salvador, said that during her 13 years attending Boston schools, she has had only four black teachers. The only Hispanic teacher she had was when she was in kindergarten.

Boston's pool of newly hired teachers is not any more diverse than it was in previous years, and the number of new teachers of color dipped slightly this school year in Boston, McGann said.

Too few minorities are in the pipeline to become teachers, she said, noting that white women make up more than 80 percent of students in education schools around the country.

Councilor at Large Felix Arroyo, a former member of the Boston School Committee, said he was surprised and disappointed by the lack of improvement in teacher diversity. The next superintendent, who will replace Payzant when he retires in June, should make it a priority to ensure that the teaching force reflects Boston's student demographics, he said.

''That's just basic," Arroyo said. ''Many studies show that gender, and race of a teacher has an impact on the ability of students to participate, pay attention and succeed in school."

Nora Toney, president of the Black Educators' Alliance of Massachusetts and principal of the Mattapan Early Education Center, said her organization is concerned that the percentage of black teachers has not changed since reaching the minimum level set by the court order.

''If you're really serious about it, you put a lot of time and energy into it," Toney said. ''But I don't think that's been the case in this situation."

District officials said they have started several programs in the last two years. They said their goal is to hire enough minority teachers so every city school's faculty mirrors its student body.

The district has been paying male teachers and administrators of color to talk about teaching jobs at Boston churches, community centers, and black and Hispanic fraternities and sororities at local colleges.

In recent months, the district started offering scholarships to minority classroom aides to earn teaching licenses, and began recruiting candidates from historically black colleges.

At Payzant's urging, the system two years ago began its own teacher training program, recruiting predominantly minorities from within the community. So far, 43 graduates from the program are teaching in Boston; half are minorities.

Since Payzant's second year as schools chief, the system has focused on recruiting more minority principals. McGann hopes the success in grooming leaders of color will translate into hiring more minority teachers.

McGann said she is confident teacher demographics will change dramatically within two to five years as older teachers retire. At least a third of current teachers are eligible to retire, she said, and the school system hires more than 500 teachers a year.

The Boston school system's average teacher pay is $69,022, making it one of the highest-paying urban systems in the nation, but it's also located in one of the most expensive areas to live.

The school system, others say, will have to double its recruiting efforts, because many of the minority teachers hired under desegregation are also eligible to retire.

Minority teachers may be more likely to notice when students stop attending class, and may have an easier time reaching out to their families, said Gary Orfield, a professor of education and social policy at Harvard.

''It is very serious for the future of the city," Orfield said. ''Schools have to reach these kids before they fall into a hopeless future."

Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com.