Columbus-area schools lack teacher diversity, BGSU hazing trial begins

Michael Lee, The Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read

Good morning Columbus!

It's Michael Lee today, as my colleagues Megan and Sheridan were off the last week enjoying well-deserved vacations!

We're coming to the end of May, which means soon it'll be summer. I'm personally looking forward to all the different events that are returning again, like the Columbus Arts Festival, ComFest, and much much more.

The end of May also means our K-12 districts are starting to hold their graduations, with students getting ready to take the next step in their lives, whether that be college, work or other endeavors. Stay tuned for a coming story from Megan and I talking with some 2022 graduates about their high school experiences.

But for now, let's take a look at some education stories you may have missed!

Jenell Igeleke Penn is an assistant professor at Ohio State's College of Education and Human Ecology and the college's director of recruitment, mentoring and retention for diversity and social justice.
Jenell Igeleke Penn is an assistant professor at Ohio State's College of Education and Human Ecology and the college's director of recruitment, mentoring and retention for diversity and social justice.

Review Session: This past school year, I collected data from a number of school districts around Greater Columbus, taking a look at the racial and ethnic breakdowns among districts' teaching staffs.

In most of the districts that responded with data, at least 90% of their teachers were white.

For example, in Upper Arlington, 95% of 1,086 teachers across the district were white this school year. In a district like Southwest City Schools, 96% of 1,536 teachers were white, compared to 54.2% of students being white, 16.8% being Black or African American and 19.2% being Hispanic.

The only district that we found that had under 90% of white teachers was Columbus City Schools, the state's largest, with 71.3%.

Ohio State University's Jenell Igeleke Penn, who teaches students pursuing a career in education, said there were many reasons school districts lack diversity in their teaching staff.

One of the reasons was that college students of color finding that many textbooks, theories, who and where they're placed with for student teaching, and teaching practices are "centered around whiteness."

“We do have some students (of color) who start programs and decide … it’s not for me,” Penn said.

Members of New Albany High School's Black Student Association and NAACP Youth Unit. From left: Lillie Wilson, 17, Tiara Bell, 16, Victoria Mabatah, 17, Faith Tolani, 17, Rina Smith, 17.
Members of New Albany High School's Black Student Association and NAACP Youth Unit. From left: Lillie Wilson, 17, Tiara Bell, 16, Victoria Mabatah, 17, Faith Tolani, 17, Rina Smith, 17.

However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t students of color pursuing teaching careers. Penn said she has had students who, while not having had a great K-12 experience, say: "I’m determined to be a teacher because I want to do better.”

I also spoke to students up in New Albany who told me that representation matters to them, like New Albany High School student Rina Smith.

“I feel like when you have a teacher that mirrors your personality, like your culture, you’re more able to connect with them because they understand the issues you’re coming to them with,” said Smith.

However, educators and students are both concerned that bills sitting in the Ohio House at the moment, like HB 616, could hurt efforts to bring that representation to the districts.

“I do hear students who are concerned, like ‘Oh, I don’t know if I would want to be a teacher if I couldn’t include diverse perspectives in my classroom,” Penn said.

However, it's not all dire. Districts have been working on ways to recruit a more diverse class of teachers, like recruiting at historically Black colleges and universities, or working with local universities like Ohio State to see how to improve their diversity efforts.

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Until next time,

Michael Lee

Email: mylee@dispatch.com

Twitter: @leem386

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus-area schools lack teacher diversity, Hazing trial begins