At Ithaca High School, a school with over 100 Black students in attendance, there are zero Black teachers.
In a video testimonial addressed to ICSD administrators, IHS student Saba Weatherspoon ‘21 says, “I’m a senior now and I’ve never had a Black teacher, ever, period.” Weatherspoon believes that she would feel more comfortable speaking up in predominantly white STEM classes if there were other Black people in the room. This sentiment is not only her own; Black student achievement has been shown to drastically increase when students are taught by Black teachers. A series of Johns Hopkins University studies from 2018 have shown that Black students are 13 percent more likely to attend college if they’ve had at least one Black teacher, and 32 percent more likely if they’ve had two.
The same study showed that white teachers were 40 percent more likely than Black teachers to predict a Black student wouldn’t graduate high school. These studies point out a profound issue affecting Black students both at IHS and across the country: teachers underestimate their abilities based on racist assumptions. Jolie Babatunde, an IHS junior who has been in the district since second grade, explained her concern with having no Black teachers in her student testimonial to the administration: “I’d say that one of my biggest issues is with people doubting my intelligence and doubting my ability to do certain things.”
The importance of expectations must not be underestimated. Stereotypes can actually cause students to underperform due to anxiety over people’s negative assumptions of them. This represents a documented psychological phenomenon known as stereotype threat. According to a study published in the Sage Journal by Jason A. Grissom and Christopher Redding, “Black students are predicted to be assigned to gifted services three times more often in classrooms with Black teachers than with non-Black teachers.” This is just one of the hundreds of statistics showing that Black teachers see far more potential in Black students. However, one cannot always assume that a teacher will understand a student better simply because they have similar ethnic and racial backgrounds—teachers of all races must be trained to fight their implicit biases and have more cultural sensitivity so they do not stifle student potential based on assumptions.
Beyond having higher expectations of Black students, Black teachers can also be influential positive role models. Because teachers have such a profound impact on their students’ academic success and personal growth, teacher and student demographics should be similar. Students should be able to see themselves represented in the teaching staff, and it is unacceptable that Black students are deprived of this experience at IHS.
The fact that so many educators are white also contributes to establishing whiteness as the default. White students have a majority of teachers that look like them, so representation of their race is something they can take for granted. This is a harmful phenomenon that perpetuates white supremacy and often leads to the ostracization of students of color.
Having more Black teachers will not only reduce discrimination against Black students in the classroom but will reduce the disproportionate rates of punishment and policing that Black students experience. At Ithaca High School in 2019, 10.37 percent of Black students were given an out-of-school suspension, compared to only 1.62 percent of white students. These unjust suspension rates are representative of racial bias at IHS. As concluded in a study done by professors from American University and University of California, “although we find reductions in referrals for a number of different types of offenses, we find particularly consistent evidence that exposure to same-race teachers lowers office referrals for willful defiance across all grade levels, suggesting that teacher discretion plays a role in driving our results.”
The presence of Black teachers is not just beneficial to Black students—it’s good for everyone. Having teachers and role models of different races and ethnicities helps all students “reduce stereotypes, attenuate unconscious implicit biases and help promote cross-cultural social bonding,” according to the Shanker Institution’s research on the topic. The report also claimed that “all students benefit from being educated by teachers from a variety of different backgrounds, races, and ethnic groups, as this experience better prepares them to succeed in an increasingly diverse society.” Creating a more diverse classroom environment will not only help to reduce achievement gaps between students of color and white students but will also help to create a more interconnected generation with less racist bias. IHS’s commitment to diversity must be steadfast, ongoing, and proactive. When diversity is normalized and not just tokenized, Ithaca High School will become a better environment for everyone.
In June 2020, Superintendent Luvelle Brown assured the ICSD community, “As we look ahead to reopening, we are doing so through a lens of anti-racism.” If IHS wishes to fulfill this commitment, hiring a diverse teaching staff is the first step. Moreover, the work doesn’t end at recruitment. This includes changing starting salaries to compete with other districts, putting the work in to make it clear to Black teachers that our district will support them. A study done by the Learning Policy Institute in 2018 found that Black teachers have a four percent higher chance of changing professions or moving schools than white teachers. To improve the retention of teachers of color, ICSD needs to evaluate the reasons behind these statistics. At the moment, the district doesn’t conduct exit interviews to ascertain teachers’ motives for leaving, but this is a vital tool, according to Work Institute: “When used effectively, exit interviews reveal the true causes of employee turnover and inform targeted strategies to improve employee retention.” This is something IHS desperately needs in order to provide a safe and productive work environment for all employees.
According to a 2015 survey of 430 Minnesota educators of color, several of the biggest contributing factors to teacher turnover were dissatisfaction with the administration, lack of mentoring and support, racial isolation, and lack of autonomy and influence. Gathered from the same survey, many of the teachers also felt they were not respected by their white colleagues and were expected to be disciplinarians for their students and everyone else’s far more than white teachers. From the Harvard E.D. magazine, a Black teacher in Massachusetts says, “If you’re the only teacher of color in a school, you become the house mom for all the students of color. It’s not sustainable if there’s one of you to meet the needs of so many.” These issues are all things IHS needs to seriously consider when looking for Black teachers and making IHS a place where Black teachers feel comfortable applying and doing their job properly.
The fact that Ithaca High School has no Black teachers is unjustifiable. The benefits are overwhelmingly clear: from reduced suspension rates to higher test scores to less biased students, having a more diverse teaching staff would benefit the entire ICSD community. Though it may be challenging for the ICSD administration to make it accessible and welcoming for Black teachers to apply and work here, they must create a welcoming, sustainable, antiracist environment, or the district’s commitment to antiracism falls short.