Behind faculty diversity

May 30, 2019

The+anononymous+Twitter+account+spoke+of+racism%2C+discrimination+and+high+turnover+of+teachers+of+color+at+SPA.

Noah Raaum

The anononymous Twitter account spoke of racism, discrimination and high turnover of teachers of color at SPA.

Director of Intercultural Life Karen Dye addressed some of the account’s statements, elaborating on the school’s stance on diversity among the faculty. She clarified that, although the account had inaccuracies, it also touched on legitimate concerns.

“Over eight teachers have left since last year. It is true that we don’t have enough teachers of color,” Dye said. “That was echoed in Common Ground assembly a few weeks ago, but it’s not for lack of trying.”

Dye delved into the recruiting process and described some of the challenges faced in terms of increasing teacher diversity.

“We do a lot of recruiting,” Dye said. “I’m off campus all the time recruiting across the country for teachers of color that would be even interested in coming to Minnesota or to SPA, and to fill the jobs we have.”

SPA uses job sites and newspapers to promote openings with a focus on recruiting teachers of color: “All together, there’s about eight or nine different places that we advertise, and many of those are firms with a specific eye on diversity,” Dye said.

One such website is Minnesota Diversity. Their mission statement reads “we are committed to bringing local talent and businesses together through innovative solutions to enhance the livelihood, diversity, and growth of our communities nationwide.” Entering “St. Paul Academy” into their search function brings up results for positions ranging from “Lower School Science Teacher” to “Upper School Jazz Band Director” to “Payroll Coordinator.”

Location may even be the largest hurdle in the search process; according to Dye, roughly 50% of people of color at job fairs and other hiring events decline once she mentions Minnesota.

We want to have a faculty that reflects the changing face of the school and the Twin Cities, and it’s a hard match.

— Head of School Bryn Roberts

“There’s just a perception, particularly among certain communities of color, that Minnesota is this frozen tundra,” Dye said. “If they get past that, then it’s a matter of finding the right position for people. Sometimes we interview a lot of teachers, but we don’t have positions available for them.”

Roberts sees this as well.

“We want to have a faculty that reflects the changing face of the school and the Twin Cities,” he said. “And it’s a hard match. Sometimes you have to have the right person, the subject matter has to align, they have to be great, they have to be experts in their subjects that they study, and they have to be terrific teachers that care about kids, that want to get better, and they have to want to come to Minnesota.”

Other times, teacher salaries come into play. Public schools pay more than private schools.

“All independent schools really struggle getting teachers of color,” Dye said. “We don’t have the federal money that public schools do. I don’t want to say that people go into teaching for the money, but of course…they have to have money to live. So it’s a balancing act, and we lose a lot of people to the money.”

Despite these hurdles, Roberts noted that SPA has made recent progress in teacher diversity, the results of which we will see this August.

“We have already hired new faculty of color for next year,” he said.

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