TEACHER DIVERSITY

For example, while the proportion of White teachers in the district rose by only 6-7 percentage points during
this period, the number of White teachers actually rose by nearly 27 percent. Similarly, the 8-9 point decrease in
the share of all teachers who were Black represents an almost 19 percent loss in the total number of Black teachers.
Meanwhile, the small share of Hispanic teachers remained quite small, although the number of Hispanic
teachers increased by nearly 27 percent.
Figure PHI-4 illustrates the trends in the “representation gaps” between Black and Hispanic teachers and students
(the proportion of students minus that of teachers, in percentage points), by sector. The Hispanic gap was
similar in both sectors, increasing very slightly in both due largely to an increase in the Hispanic share of the
student population. The Black representation gap in the district sector rose until 2006, after which it declined.
Between 2007 and 2012, the Black gap increased by about 6 points in the charter sector, largely due to a rapid
decline in the share of Black charter teachers; at the same time, it decreased in the district sector, largely due to
the fact that Black representation among students declined more quickly than that among teachers.
FIGURE PHI-4: STUDENT-TEACHER REPRESENTATION GAP, BY RACE AND ETHNICITY AND SECTOR, 2001–2012
60
50
44.8
40
36.9
30
31.1
28.1
20
15.7
10
10.7
10.4
13.2
0
Black (D) Hispanic (D) Black (C) Hispanic (C)
The fact that teaching is a female-dominated occupation means that Black and Hispanic men constitute only
small proportions of the total teacher workforce in Philadelphia (Figure PHI-5), resulting in a demographic
mismatch that is particularly acute for Black and Hispanic boys. In addition, female Hispanic teachers in Philadelphia
also constitute only a tiny fraction of the teacher workforce, due to the small proportion of Hispanics
among Philadelphia teachers. Thus, only Black female teachers represent a sizeable (though declining) proportion
of the minority teaching force in Philadelphia.
ALBERT SHANKER INSTITUTE 79 THE STATE OF TEACHER DIVERSITY