HARRISBURG, Pa. — For many, educators are seen as superheroes and people who can do it all.
"We are multi-taskers, we assess data, we are communicators, we are parents, we are trainers, [and] we are facilitators," said Ashia Philippe, a second-grade teacher at Susquehanna Township School District.
In these important roles, Phillippe said, students are often comforted by seeing a part of themselves in their teachers. However, Pennsylvania schools are struggling to recruit Black educators.
"When a student sees me, a young Black girl or a young Black boy, they know that their skin color does not stop them," explained Phillipe, who has been a teacher for the past 15 years. "They say 'Hey, I had a Black teacher and he did it or she did it.'"
Out of Pennsylvania's more than 120,000 teachers, 96% of them are white, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). That makes the state's educator workforce the least diverse in the country.
"That doesn’t surprise [me], and here’s why: often in college, I saw students would start out and would switch their major because it was becoming too hard," said Philippe.
To make matters worse, the pressures associated with the pandemic can be seen as a deterrent for new hires.
Data from the Education Research Firm RFA revealed that during the 2019-2020 school year, fewer than 5% of teachers in York, Dauphin, Cumberland and Lancaster Counties were Black. Meanwhile, PDE said, by 2025, the state anticipates a higher number of diverse students.
"We need to act now to get the teacher workforce and be ready for the population," said Tanya Garcia, PDE's deputy secretary and commissioner for postsecondary and higher education.
As part of a solution to the deficit in Black teachers, PDE plans to expand its Aspire to Educate program, an initiative that started in 2019 aimed at recruiting teachers of color in general at Pennsylvania colleges.
Applications for the program is expected to be released between late spring and early summer.