The head of the nation’s largest teachers’ union says she is worried about the ongoing teacher shortage, namely among Black educators, who studies show are more likely to consider leaving their jobs than their peers. 

“We are so concerned that our profession is growing less diverse. We are going in the wrong direction,” Rebecca S. Pringle, president of the National Education Association, told Word In Black at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 54th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.

Black teachers make up only about 6% of teachers in the United States of America, compared to approximately 80% of white teachers, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. And a comparatively small number of Black educators in the country has been dwindling. 

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Pringle is especially concerned about Black educators who are more likely to want to leave the profession than their white and Hispanic peers. A recent survey from the RAND Corporation showed that 28% of Black teachers intended to leave their jobs in the 2024-2025 school year, double the share of white teachers.

Although these numbers are down from the previous school year — which showed a little more than a third of Black and one-fifth of white teachers were looking to exit the profession — Black teachers remain disproportionately more likely to quit the industry. 

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Low pay is one of the biggest reasons behind this disparity. Black teachers earn about 6% less than white teachers on average before controlling for teacher characteristics, according to the RAND survey. Job-related stress and arduous hours were also key elements in the equation. 

Black educators are also treated with a lack of respect, according to Pringle. 

“They are not treated as the professionals they are to make teaching and learning decisions for their students,” she says. “They are not provided with the resources to do the jobs they love. That’s what they talk about.”