WASHINGTON, DC—Teach Plus today issued the following statement on the Executive Order on White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.
“Teach Plus applauds President Biden for his focus on expanding high-quality educational opportunities for Black students and for addressing racial inequities in education. Teach Plus teacher leaders are passionate about ensuring that Black students are affirmed, celebrated, and empowered to reach their full potential every day in their classroom,” said Lindsay Sobel, Teach Plus Interim CEO. “We are grateful to the president for his leadership on this issue and look forward to working with the administration to make this vision a reality.”
In order for Black students to thrive, we must retain and recruit Black teachers. Studies consistently show that teachers of color matter for all students, and especially for students of color, yet the gap between the percentage of teachers and students of color remains wide. In their recent report, To Be Who We Are: Black Teachers on Creating Affirming School Cultures, Teach Plus and the Center for Black Educator Development provide recommendations from over 100 Black teachers on how to create culturally affirming school environments and what educational leaders can do to create those conditions, particularly for Black teachers.
“As we celebrate the President’s executive order and the upcoming work of the two commissions within the Department of Education to improve education for Black students, we must also maintain a focus on the diversity of our teaching force. If we’re to ensure access to high-quality education for Black students, we must double down on retaining and recruiting Black teachers and on creating the culturally affirming school environments that allow both teachers and students to bring their whole selves to school,” said Ms. Sobel.
About Teach Plus
Teach Plus is dedicated to the mission of empowering excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that advance equity, opportunity, and student success. Since 2009, Teach Plus has developed thousands of teacher leaders across the country to exercise their leadership in shaping education policy and improving teaching and learning, to create an education system driven by access and excellence for all. teachplus.org
