UCLA CTS and The UCLA Civil Rights Project (CRP) have co-released Barriers to Racial Equity for Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers in California’s Teaching Pipeline and Profession, detailing the systemic barriers to diversifying the teacher workforce in the state. The study explores obstacles to recruiting and retaining teachers of color and Indigenous teachers (TOCIT) in California’s schools. The researchers used a mix of qualitative and quantitative data collected over the course of one year from system leaders in teacher preparation, pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and former teachers to better understand current policies and practices that may be contributing to teacher burnout, turnover and early retirement.
We have far to go in achieving a more diverse educator workforce that mirrors our K-12 student population. Despite California’s recent, large investments toward improving educator diversity, persistently higher rates of burnout, turnover, and early retirement among teachers of color and Indigenous teachers may indicate other factors at play. At a time when a number of states are eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs designed to foster positive race relations and genuine equity, the authors point to persistent discrimination in the training process and the enormous economic barriers that many students of color face in getting the educational and professional resources and support they need to become teachers.
Key findings include:
Financial Challenges: Growing tuition fees, unpaid student teaching, mounting student debt, meager salaries, and the relentless rise of inflation and living expenses are disproportionately magnified for TOCIT.
Structural Racism: Study participants report being underserved in overcrowded programs, undercompensated compared to other high-skilled professions, and their life experiences and perspectives devalued throughout the teacher pipeline and profession.
Culture & Climate: Hundreds of respondents express feeling “silenced,” “ignored,” and “dismissed” by their colleagues and administration when trying to discuss issues around race and racism. Conversations around DEI are seen as performative and not yielding tangible policy or action.
Curriculum & Pedagogy: Participants report restrictions on their pedagogical autonomy that limit their ability to provide culturally responsive teaching and engage students in critical thinking. TOCIT also voice concerns that their perspectives and experiences are excluded from the curriculum.
Testing: Teacher licensure exams are reported as formidable barriers for workforce entry, imposing stress, time constraints and financial burdens, particularly on pre-service teachers.
The paper concludes with recommendations for improving the recruitment and retention of TOCIT, including: a “G.I. Bill” for teachers and debt-free pathways; fair compensation for student teaching, translation, discipline duties, and mental health guidance for students; teacher education enrollment caps; ethnic studies offerings and culturally relevant curriculum audits; and alternative credentialing pathways for in-service teachers.
“Equity work in our schools requires that we actively interrogate and dismantle policies and practices that act as barriers for people of color entering and sustaining in the profession,” said Kai Mathews, director of the California Educator Diversity Project at CTS and lead author of the study. “Essentially, our desire for equity must be driven by a greater–or at least equal–desire for justice. There is no uncoupling of the two.”
Read the executive summary and report, Barriers to Racial Equity for Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers in California’s Teaching Pipeline and Profession. This work is part of a new research series, “A Civil Rights Agenda for California’s Next Quarter Century,” commemorating the Civil Rights Project’s 25th anniversary.