October is Black Male Educator Month in Philadelphia, thanks to a resolution introduced by Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, and unanimously approved by City Council. The need to get more Black men into teaching is not just a year-round demand, but a challenge that has been recognized in the city for decades.
More than 30 years ago, in 1993, Philadelphia began what was called an “aggressive” effort to recruit more Black men into the teaching ranks. The Philadelphia chapter of Concerned Black Men, the School District of Philadelphia, along with support from Cheyney University, pushed for a goal of recruiting 500 Black men per year to teach in the city’s public schools. At the time, despite the majority of students being Black, most public school teachers were White. Just a small fraction, about 5 percent, were Black men.
I myself was one of the young men brought into teaching through the effort. On my way to law school, teaching had never been a professional option that was visible for me. That changed when my mentor, Dr. Martin Ryder, extended an invitation for me and other young Black men to consider a career in education. I spent 10 years teaching, moved into school leadership, and founded, at first, The Fellowship: Black Male Educators for Social Justice/BMEC, and later the Center for Black Educator Development where we work to recruit, develop, and retain Black educators.
A lukewarm reception of the early 90s effort from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (who has since expressed support for diversification of our local workforce) and middling support from many of the supposed allies of Black communities put the program on its back heel. Unfortunately, the initiative faltered and faded.
Only 4 percent of teachers are Black men
Fast forward three decades and progress has stagnated. Just over 4 percent of school teachers in Philadelphia identify as Black men. Nationally, it’s worse. Black men make up less than 2 percent of the total teaching population, but our city could have been a powerful example of what’s possible.
Imagine how 500 more Black male teachers a year, compounded over the decades, could have transformed our teaching force. Philadelphia would have been one of the few places in the nation where our teaching force mirrored the diversity of the student body. Today, Superintendent Watlington has made increasing diversity, with an emphasis on Black men, a key strategy in the District’s Strategic Plan, demonstrating that it isn’t too late to invite Black men into teaching and support them while they are here.
When there is a lack of Black men teachers, principals and assistant principals, it represents a loss for our students and city, as the evidence is clear that having Black male teachers is a game changer for academic and life outcomes. Studies have demonstrated that Black students gain significant advantages from having Black teachers. Black students with even a single Black teacher in elementary school are 13 percent more likely to pursue college. With two Black teachers, this likelihood rises to 32 percent. The influence of Black teachers reaches beyond academics as well; their presence can lower the chances of Black students dropping out of high school and boost their overall engagement in school. Black teachers can make the entire educational ecosystem smarter, more empathetic, far less culturally destructive.
The evidence is clear that having Black male teachers is a game changer for academic and life outcomes.
The Philadelphia experience also shows that recruitment efforts, while necessary, are not sufficient alone. Along with concerted and thoughtful recruitment strategies, we need policy and advocacy to support, retain, and produce more Black male teachers.
That’s the work that’s now underway: the creation of intentional systems of recruitment, development, retention, and ongoing support for Black men (and women) who seek to teach in Philadelphia. The Black Teacher Pipeline project, spearheaded by the Center for Black Educator Development and others, focuses on recruiting Black high school and college students into the teaching profession through pre-apprenticeships, scholarships, and mentorships. The goal is to guide them through college and support their first four years as teachers, creating a solid foundation for a long-term career in education.
Projects like these are particularly impactful at schools like Martin Luther King High School, which boasts one of the highest percentages of Black male teachers in the city and recently became “the first high school in the district to have a class that has Black male teachers for the four core subjects — math, English, science, and history.” That is a remarkable achievement, albeit a disappointingly rare one.
Likewise, young Black men represent 25 to 30 percent of students in our Career and Technical Education courses and our summer paid apprenticeship programming. Young Black men are interested in leading classrooms of their own — we have to ensure they’re supported and not be subjected to pipeline leakages.
All of this work is part of our national campaign, #WeNeedBlackTeachers, aimed at adding Black teachers to the workforce across communities, including Philadelphia, starting with primarily Black high schools like Science Leadership Academy – Beeber. It will also be front and center during our seventh annual National Black Male Educators Convening in November (all tickets have been sold for the seventh year in a row) which will bring together hundreds of Black male educators and our allies to move the work forward in powerful and vital ways.
So as we look toward the future, it’s clear that ensuring the presence of Black male teachers in Philadelphia schools is a crucial step toward achieving educational equity and uplifting our communities. Programs like ours at the Center for Black Educator Development are working to build a sustainable framework, not just for recruiting Black male educators, but for supporting them at every stage of their career. The commitment of leaders, organizations, and advocates in Philadelphia and beyond will be essential to turning the tide.
Sharif El-Mekki, former principal of Mastery Charter School Shoemaker Campus, is founder and executive director of Center for Black Educator Development. Read more of his writing for The Citizen here.
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