{"id":58,"date":"2018-04-11T15:07:33","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T19:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2017-obean\/?page_id=58"},"modified":"2018-05-18T16:27:31","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T20:27:31","slug":"teachers-of-color-as-activists-and-organizers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where Are All the Teachers of Color?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2016, students of color became the majority of public school populations. Why then, are their teachers so white?<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/www.apmreports.org\/story\/2017\/08\/28\/why-so-few-black-male-teachers<\/p><\/div>\n

My website will explore the barriers facing people of color to becoming teachers, the challenges they face in staying on the job, and the actions communities undertake to make sure that those who educate their children are a part of their communities.<\/p>\n

Fighting for educators to come from the communities (of color) that they serve gets at the root of systemic injustice; it breaks against the tradition of intervention by \u201cwhite saviors\u201d or outsiders who think they know better trying to take control of the community. When communities of color advocate for themselves, they fight against the systems of oppression perpetuated by neoliberal reform–an idea I explore in\u00a0TRUE GRASSROOTS IN AN ERA OF NEOLIBERALISM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My website focuses on Chicago<\/strong>, a city with a rich history of grassroots organizing for teachers of color and the home of the Grow Your Own Teacher Act. As this legislation grew out of grassroots organizing in the city, Chicago gives us a model for how grassroots organizing can yield demonstrable success. For more information on the Chicago grassroots movement, look at\u00a0ON THE GROUND WITH GRASSROOTS GROUPS: ORGANIZATION SYNTHESIS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With almost 370,000, Chicago is the archetypal “urban” setting. In Chicago, students of color make up about 90% percent of the public school population–and yet, teachers of color make up less than half the workforce (Chicago Public Schools, 2017<\/a>). My website will explore what communities are doing to change this.<\/p>\n