UNPACKING EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITIES: A Personal Journey into Root Causes of Funding and Diversity in Education
other children have access, all due to the location where they live and because of inadequate funding. Why? What is the root cause for this? Why are some families, students, and staff seemingly looked at as less than? Within a district, how is the funding distributed, especially in places where one school is funded and another underfunded? How is this decision made? According to the Board of School Director’s website for the School District of Lancaster, the Board directs the Chief Financial Officer to “establish a projected budget of expenditures and income for the current year and ensuing year,” which they then approve and implement. How does the CFO become aware of all the factors and dynamics of each school in the district to make sure they are equitable? Another question is, who is sitting on the school board? If no one from your neighborhood is on the school board, then you may not be deemed worthy enough to receive funding. Your school can be left out of funding or determined not to need such funding. Who then holds school boards accountable? I understand that holding school boards accountable comes from the power of the vote; however, in many underserved communities, that power is not exercised, and many schools cannot afford resources and opportunities to help students succeed. In addition, the lack of funding impacts teacher recruitment and retention, especially for teachers of color. Schools with equitable funding will have a larger pool to recruit teachers of color. For example, with all else being equal, a school district with higher teacher salaries would likely have more teachers applying for those positions (and thus a larger pool from which to hire teachers) than a lower-spending state, and school districts with lower teacher salaries are not in a position to compete for teaching talent with districts that have more funding.
DIVERSITY IN TEACHING
What impact do teachers of color have on children of color believing they can become teachers? I believe this subject is difficult to address for several factors but mainly because it touches on race. I have seen this question make people uncomfortable, make people become defensive, make people say things like why does it matter who is sitting in front of a child as long as they are qualified, but the truth is, representation matters; it has always mattered and just saying it matters is not enough. What are we going to do about it? Growing up, I was extremely fortunate to have many educators of color, from teachers, administrators and even an assistant superintendent. This trend continued when I started teaching 24 years ago: in the building in which I taught, there were 15 teachers of color and more professionals of color in the building. That same building today has four teachers of color. All around the district and across districts is this situation the same? According to Lancaster Newspaper, which published findings from the YWCA report on equity and teacher diversity in Lancaster County, the vast majority of teachers in Lancaster County public schools are white even though their student populations are increasingly diverse. In fact, the newspaper reported that “more than a third of students in Lancaster, Columbia Borough, Conestoga Valley and Manheim Township school districts are people of color but more than 90% of teachers in these districts are white.” They further reported that “countywide, 96% of teachers are white while 65% of students are white (Stalnecker, 2023). I ask myself, did seeing and experiencing these teachers have an effect on my belief that I could become a teacher? As a teacher of color, do I have that same impact on other students of color? What would happen if the roles were reversed and 98% of the student population was white and 95% of the teachers were teachers of color? Would we then ask if representation matters? According to the YWCA’s (2023) An Equity Profile of Lancaster, “studies have shown that all students, but especially students of color, perform better and receive better educational support when taught by teachers of color. Diverse teachers are able to be role models for students of color and better provide culturally relevant teaching” (p. 50). If we want more teachers of color in our school districts, then we need more children of color to go into teacher education. Maybe the question we should be asking is, why aren’t more children of color pursuing a career in education? How are they supported throughout their academic career? What systems are put in place so that students don’t feel isolated on a college campus? What is the likelihood that that student of color will have a professor of color, which can make them wonder if they chose the right career and if they want to pursue it long term. And when that student graduates, what are the chances they find a career and have the support needed to sustain that career?
RECRUITMENT OF TEACHERS OF COLOR
Where are the teachers of color, or where have they gone? Are schools doing enough to recruit more teachers of color? My sons will not have that same experience that I had when I attended school because they have less than 4% of teachers of color in their school district. If the current trend stands in that district, they will graduate without having a teacher of color in their core subject areas. How do we change this? E n g a g e for C h a n g e | S P R I N G 2 0 2 5
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