The achievement gap between students of different races has been well-documented, and the San Francisco Unified School District is trying something it hopes will address the disparities early on: Hiring more black teachers.
Swen Ervin, a SFUSD human capital specialist tasked with recruiting more teachers of color to the district, told The Huffington Post that a black teacher recruitment event last week was a success, drawing about 45 attendees and giving them the chance to meet with district educators, participate in informational interviews and submit their resumes.
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At the end of last year, a group of SFUSD librarians created a “Teaching #BlackLivesMatter” online resource that compiles materials teachers can reference while addressing the movement in the classroom. That launch came the same month that the Board of Education approved a resolution implementing ethnic studies in all the district’s high schools.
Most recently, SFUSD announced last week that efforts to reduce the disproportionate number of suspensions among black students has been a success, bringing them down 17 percent from last year as the district implements more proactive policies, ranging from daily check-ins to rewards for good behavior, according to a district press release.
