• About 1 in 10 teachers in Michigan are people of color, compared with a third of students
• New report highlight barriers that stop people from becoming teachers
• Research shows teacher diversity is linked to better student performance 

As Michigan schools continue to struggle to find enough highly qualified teachers, a new report points to a lack of teacher diversity statewide.

Statewide, 11.3% of teachers are people of color, compared to about 37.7% of students in Michigan public schools, according to new analysis from EdTrust-Midwest, a school policy and advocacy organization. 

Charlotte Pierce, senior policy analyst for EdTrust-Midwest, said about 11% of students go to schools with no teachers of color, meaning about 1 in 10 Michigan students are “going to school and seeing no diverse representation in the front of their classrooms.”

The report offers several ideas to increase teacher diversity throughout the pipeline — from the moment someone chooses to become a teacher all the way through the person’s employment in a school. 

Research shows that Black students who are taught by a Black teacher are more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college while being less likely to be chronically absent or get suspended, said Seth Gershenson, a public policy professor at American University. Gershenson researches teacher diversity and said there are also social benefits to teacher diversity.

School is one of the first places children encounter adults that aren’t family members, and “it’s useful for kids of all backgrounds to see that people of different backgrounds can be in those professional positions of authority.”

EdTrust-Midwest’s report, released Tuesday, builds on findings from earlier this year, including a report revealing that while districts with the highest concentration of student poverty employ 13.5% of teachers in the state, they employ 38% of the teachers who have emergency credentials.

Teachers in those high-poverty districts also employ 33.5% of the teachers statewide who are teaching outside of the grade level or subject area on their teaching license. 

“Our goal is to increase the teachers of color who join and stay in the teacher workforce,” said Pierce of EdTrust-Midwest. 

The report joins a chorus of other recent reports calling for changes to Michigan’s education system. A state-sponsored report from the University of Michigan’s Youth Policy Lab recommends giving the governor more authority over education policy and more funding for the Michigan Department of Education. A report from the Autism Alliance of Michigan and other special education stakeholders calls for changes in how special education is funded in public schools. 

The report also comes during a time where the federal government has placed increased scrutiny on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The teacher starting salary in Michigan is $41,645, according to a report from Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University. 

Actions, recommendations

Michigan has a program to help students in sixth through 12th grade to explore teaching as a profession, funding to help future teachers with college scholarships and financial support for student teaching.

The group recommends the state find ways to expose younger students to teaching as a profession, continue the scholarships and student teaching support and help teachers pay back their student loans.  

As college students work toward their teaching credential, EdTrust-Midwest recommends curricula that are “culturally and linguistically sustaining for candidates of color” and that the state “should strengthen its oversight of teacher preparation programs” to ensure teachers are prepared to teach. 

The Michigan Department of Education has repeatedly advocated for funding to address teacher workforce concerns 

“There have been an additional 2,272 teachers of color added to the state workforce in the last eight years, which is a 34% increase,” MDE said in a statement, noting that “the department recognizes that more work is necessary to increase the diversity of the state’s educator workforce.”

It was not immediately clear how many teachers of color left the profession in those eight years.

MDE also assesses educator preparation programs when they are initially formed and after five years. Programs are evaluated annually by the state and required to have national accreditation. 

EdTrust-Midwest recommends districts having inclusive working environments for teachers of color, create affinity groups and “same-race early teacher mentoring relationships for new teachers of color.”

Finally, the group recommends putting in additional protections so that new teachers are not lost to layoffs through “Last In, First Out” policies. This could include protections for teachers in subject areas that are often hard to fill or teachers who completed a “grow your own” program. 

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