Schools need more blacks on staff
Published: June 30, 2009
The Daily Progress article “NAACP: County school administration too white,” June 14, featured the stance taken by M. Rick Turner, president of the Albemarle-Charlottesville branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
In his address to the Albemarle Count School Board, Turner demanded better oversight of the school division’s hiring process to increase the number of black educators and administrators hired. He was appalled that the division’s decision to fill three open positions for school principals with white candidates, leaving the division with only one black principal in its 25 schools.
Turner contended that “a serious search would have clearly brought forth some of the top educators in the country.”
In response, Albemarle County schools communications coordinator Maury Brown said that black candidates were among those recruited and interviewed, but those hired were the most qualified.
That is the traditional and pat response that has been made as long as I can remember for rejecting black candidates for positions in the schools and other systems.
African-American Luvelle Brown, the chief information officer for the Albemarle County school division and a former principal of Woodbrook Elementary School, agreeing with Turner, stated that being a black educator had allowed him to make connections with black communities and build relationships with minority students in a way that wouldn’t have been possible if he were of a different race.
However, he disagreed with Turner that the division isn’t actively “recruiting and supporting” minorities. Brown said that there are few black educators, yet they’re in high demand.
I disagree with this latter statement. There are many blacks in education because employment opportunities in other fields are not as available to them as to whites.
I agree with Turner: “This is ridiculous” — i.e., the division’s failing to make adequate progress toward remedying the problem of inequity in diversity in hiring. Six percent of the county’s teachers are black, compared with 14 percent of students. And as indicated earlier, it has one black principal in its 25 schools.
Is the systemic virus still alive that caused Albemarle to close its schools in the 1960s rather than to integrate them?
Uriah J. Fields
Albemarle County
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Reader Reactions
I wonder when we are prepared to accept the fact that our schools have a single purpose of preparing children to be working adults. It matters not a wit whether a teacher is male or female, black or white, wealthy or poor. All that counts is whether he/she can teach. Far too many cannot. Indeed probably 80% of the teachers are not competent at the job. If they were the students would be prepared for at least the beginning of employment at the end of the 8th grade. By then those students who will be going to college will be segregated, and those will be prepared for enrollment in college by the age 16.
Amen, Foehammer! Amen!
The only thing I’d add is that in some cases, that’s a high, perhaps unachievable, expectation. I tutored a child whose parents tried, but were unsuccesful at mentoring their child(ren)—this can happen for a variety of reasons. But no one would argue that what you are doing is anything less than good, or ideal. I just hope that where there is a gap, for whatever reason, it can be made a bit smaller through the help, rather than the complaints, of others. It’s all about love, tough, or otherwise.
I cant speak for the other people posting on this site, but I can tell you what it takes to keep your children on the honor roll. It takes 2 to 3 hours a night overseeing their homework. My wife and I do this nightly during the school year. It is very time consuming and often results in a confrontation with the kids. But we dont mind because we believe that this is what it takes to give your children (we have four) a good start to their education. Additionally, this learninhg process can not sudenly stop when school lets out. We have all of them reading 1 hour a day this summer.
A good education takes the involvement of the parents on a nightly basis.
I don’t have a problem with holding Mr. Turner or Fields accountable, to a point. And, it is difficult to make strides with an imbalance between supply and demand—we’ve lost some excellent candidates to other districts. Lest we also not forget the not too distant debacle of hiring a Superintendent who was unqualified…
However, I’d also ask my fellow citizens, in particular those who have time to exercise their first ammendment rights here, what THEY are doing to help encourage students to take an interest in their own education, promote teaching as a respected profession, invest resources in their school system, and support administrators who do a good job on their behalf? All to often I hear—and read—complaints—and I am sick of them, and for that matter, of excuses. Having participated as a mentor, and as a reading buddy, I can tell you that 45-60 minutes a week can have quite an impact on young people (it’s not all about money)—and if an old, crotchety, Gran Tourino white guy can help kids—white, black, hispanic, whatever—you can too. How about it?
You might even find that you like it!
I’m happy to have more diversity among the schools’ leadership staff, but why limit it to increasing the number of blacks? I’d like to see Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, native Americans, ??, etc etc. The problem is, schools don’t hire administrators just because of their race, religion, or ethnicity. First, they have to go to COLLEGE, and get a degree, and they usually work their way up the ladder, starting with classroom teacher. Since we don’t see many blacks (or ?)in the classrooms of today, don’t expect to see many of them promoted to administrative jobs.
M.Rick Turner and Uriah Fields: What are YOU doing to encourage promising young blacks and other minorities to choose education as a career? Do you ever mentor any of them? Contribute to scholarship funds for them?
Let’s hire people for the right reasons- their qualifications - so that they can serve as a role model to the next generation.
Can you imagine the outrage from the black community if this article would have been reversed? Uriah, we want the best qualified teaching our children, regardless of their color. The reason that it has been a traditional pat response, that has been made as long as you can remember for rejecting black candidates, is because thats how it works. tHE MOST QUALIFIED GET THE JOB BECAUSE THEY HAVE WORKED HARD FOR IT.
Dopher you are 100% right. It’s about time isn’t it.
Didn’t you notice? Yesterday the highest court in the land ruled this unconstitutional. I’m happy racial discrimination is on its way out, and we can all be judged on our own merits.
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