Black Men Teach hopes to change MN education disparities, one teacher at a time.
A local non-profit wants to create a pipeline of black men entering the teaching profession. Here s why. Author: Kent Erdahl Updated: 7:32 PM CST February 15, 2021
MINNEAPOLIS This week, the Minnesota Legislature will begin addressing a series of proposals related to education and equity across the state.
It s part of a comprehensive effort to reduce troubling achievement gaps between white students and students of color that have plagued the state for decades.
Among the proposals, an effort led by a small nonprofit called Black Men Teach, to create a pipeline of black male teachers at a time when they are increasingly hard to find anywhere in the state.
Teacher shortage hits schools in rural, urban districts across Minnesota A new report finds half of Minnesota licensees aren t in classrooms; deficits span urban, rural, suburban areas. February 10, 2021 5:15am Text size Copy shortlink:
These days, Superintendent Ryan Baron is pleased when he gets a half-dozen and then immediately grows anxious. You play a game of competition against your neighbors, he said. You get seven applications, those seven have already applied at places nearby, and if you don t hurry up you may lose them.
Across the state, school districts are finding it harder to fill open teaching positions and keep new teachers in the classroom a trend educators worry may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
How Black male teachers in Minnesota are recruiting others to the profession
Currently 34% of K-12 students across the state are students of color, while just 4% of licensed teachers identify as nonwhite.
Written By:
Riham Feshir / MPR News | 10:27 am, Dec. 21, 2020 ×
Prodeo Academy teacher Markus Flynn leads a fifth grade science class that is learning remotely. Flynn has been teaching for two years and is the new executive director of Black Men Teach. Christine T. Nguyen / MPR News
MINNEAPOLIS All throughout high school, Kaiyre Lewis enjoyed working with kids. He babysat, he coached youth teams, worked at camps. It came natural to him, especially as a big brother.
But when Lewis started college last year, he picked a major in political science.
“I barely knew what poli sci was,” said Lewis, 19, a sophomore at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. “And then I got a job at a day care, and I had always in the back of my mind thought, ‘Maybe teaching, maybe teaching.’”
But as a Black man and the first in his family to go to college, Lewis said he faced pressure to go to school for something more lucrative.
“And on top of that, I only see white women,” he said. “I never looked at my teachers and thought, ‘That s gonna be me one day.’”