In 2016, the United States Department of Education published a report on the State of Racial Diversity in the Educator Workforce. This report highlighted a critical need to diversify teacher education. With over 50% of the students in public education being students of color, teachers of color are clearly underrepresented at around 18% (2016, US Dept. of Ed.). While the overall numbers of teachers of color have risen slightly over the years, the numbers for Black teachers have dropped. This has major implications because there are clear benefits to all students when they have teachers of color and stronger benefits when Black students have Black teachers (2016, US Dept. of Ed.). Also, Black teachers tend to migrate to public school systems in urban high-needs areas, and they tend to stay in those schools longer. If those of us charged with improving the quality of public education are serious, we must be intentional about recruiting and retaining teachers of color. 
Dr. Katherine E. L. Norris
Answering the Call
Over the last few years, Educator Preparation Programs (EPP) have been responding to the call creating programming and applying for funding to increase the number of students of color in their teacher education programs by creating Grow Your Own and Pipeline Programs across the country. Even I am currently responding to a grant call for the Teacher Education Program at Howard University. As I sit down to work on designing a Grow Your Own Program, I must stop to ask the questions, after we recruit, then what? What is the state of the teaching profession for which I am recruiting?
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wondered if as he was fighting to lead his people out of segregation if he was in fact integrating them into a burning house. As I watch this new wave of heavy recruitment around Black teachers and teachers of color into the teaching field, while teachers are leaving the profession in droves, that same sentiment often comes over me. I don’t want us to be leading students into a burning house.
The State of the Teaching Profession
