NAACP: County school administration too white

The Albemarle County school system has too few black educators and administrators, and it is failing to make adequate progress toward remedying the problem, the president of the local NAACP said.

“This is ridiculous,” M. Rick Turner said Friday of what he sees as a poor effort to recruit black teachers and administrators. “The mindset is akin to massive resistance.”
Turner, president of the Albemarle-Charlottesville branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, demanded better oversight of the school division’s hiring process at a School Board meeting Thursday. He bucked the division’s recent decision to fill three open positions for school principals with white candidates, leaving the division with only one black principal in its 25 schools.
“A serious search would have clearly brought forth some of the top black educators in the country,” Turner said.

However, schools communications coordinator Maury Brown said that black candidates were among those recruited and interviewed, but those hired were the most qualified.
Brown said that the school division actively recruits black candidates by working with historically black colleges and minority advocacy groups, among other strategies. She said that the school division is aiming to increase the number of minority teachers to more closely mirror the percentage of minority students, but as in many localities, the county has fallen short.

Only 6 percent of the county’s teachers are black, compared with 14 percent of students, she said.
“It’s not an Albemarle County problem. It’s a state problem. It’s a national problem,” Brown said. “There are so few, and you work hard to drive them to your community, but it’s a small pool and it’s a diminishing pool.”
Turner said that while the school division recognizes the importance of a diverse staff in its Comprehensive Plan, its actions don’t match up, which is a disservice to students.
“You have to see things to believe you can be that,” Turner said. “If black children don’t see [black] firemen and police officers, they will never believe they can become that one day. If they don’t see black principals in the administration and black teachers, they won’t believe that they can become teachers or administrators.”
Luvelle Brown, the chief information officer for the school division, agrees that it’s important to have strong minority representation in the school system. He said that the division should continue to recruit minority educators, as opposed to hiring without regard for race.

“There is some merit and research that says minority leaders and teachers are able to develop relationships and provide relevant experiences for students who are minorities,” said Brown, a former principal of Woodbrook Elementary.
He added that being a black educator has 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 said that he has a tough time buying that the “division isn’t actively recruiting and supporting” minorities, based largely on his own experiences as an educator. He added that there are few black educators, yet they’re in high demand.

“I know the numerous offers I received prior to coming here and the numerous inquires I receive now because I’m an African-American male [educational] leader,” he said, adding that he imagines other well-qualified candidates have similar experiences.
Turner said he would continue his plea for more balanced staffing in the school division and would soon bring his concerns to the county Board of Supervisors.