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When Luther Joseney grew up in Boston, as he remembers, anytime one of his friends tried to sound academic, the response was quick: 鈥淪top talking so white.鈥�

Now, as a teacher in Boston鈥檚 James F. Condon School, Joseney knows that his very presence as a Black male signals to today鈥檚 students of color that they don鈥檛 have to limit their aspirations. 鈥淏efore I open my mouth, that non-verbal affirmation is there,鈥� Joseney said. A simple head nod, signifying that he sees students and understands their lives, can be profound.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult not to see me in you when I grew up two streets away from you,鈥� he said. 鈥淏eing a male of color affords me an opportunity to be a mirror.鈥�

The importance of that mirroring is backed up by 15 years of research: Students with same-race teachers demonstrate higher achievement and rack up significantly fewer absences and suspensions.

But for most school districts, finding and keeping teachers of color has proved difficult. The issue has a unique resonance in Boston, where efforts to increase teacher diversity are part of the city鈥檚 reckoning with its racist past. In 1974, a federal judge ordered the Boston Public Schools to address decades of segregation by requiring its teaching force to become 25 percent Black 鈥� an order the city has failed to adequately meet over more than 46 years.

The ruling has pushed the district to embrace nationwide recruitment and robust retention efforts. In fact, Boston is actually doing better than most U.S. cities in this regard. More than 21 percent of its 4,403 teachers are Black, compared with 12 percent for the typical urban district, according to the .

Boston鈥檚 higher national standing despite the court order does not impress Joseney, a passionate educator, who said of the city鈥檚 hiring efforts: 鈥淲e are failing the least.鈥�

That 25 percent goal is 鈥渨hat we talk about every day 鈥� the things we can do to create pathways and pipelines to get [diverse candidates] into the classroom,鈥� said Abdi Ali, the manager of two hiring programs for the district.

Those efforts could be put to the test in the coming years. Teachers hired in the initial wave after the ruling are retiring in larger numbers, and there are fears that the city鈥檚 progress could falter. Critics say they are more than ready to yank the district back into court, reopening the wounds of the painful suit that still taints the city鈥檚 race relations.

Race riots in Boston

After years of protests that included the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 first civil rights march outside the South, the U.S. District Court in 1974 ordered Boston to desegregate its schools by busing both white and Black students outside their neighborhoods. At the time, 84 percent of white students 聽schools that were more than 80 percent white, while 62 percent of Black students attended schools that were more than 70 percent Black.

In the case of Morgan v. Hennigan, Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. found that the school district 鈥渒nowingly carried out a systematic program of segregation.鈥� His order requiring the busing of 18,000 Black and white students led to violence and riots. On the first day of school following the order, buses carrying Black students in South Boston were targeted with eggs, bricks and bottles. Later that year, a Black student stabbed a white student at South Boston High School. Parents barricaded the school, trapping Black students inside until they were escorted out by state police.

While the ruling, and the violence that followed, are well known, the teacher diversity element of the decision is not.

The court listed three factors behind the district鈥檚 failure to employ more than 7 percent Black teachers: 鈥渄iscriminatory鈥� cutoff scores on the National Teacher Exam, inadequate minority teacher recruitment and the city鈥檚 reputation as an 鈥渁nti-Black, segregated school system.鈥� Garrity called for Boston to hire one Black teacher for every white teacher hired until the district鈥檚 Black teachers constituted 25 percent of the teacher workforce.

鈥淭he teacher diversity component was an important part of Morgan v. Hennigan,鈥� the 1974 court case, said Iv谩n Espinoza-Madrigal, the executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights.

It took the city 14 years to desegregate schools to the court鈥檚 satisfaction; the district鈥檚 plan was deemed 鈥渟uccessful鈥� by a federal appeals court in 1988, which in turn gave control of student placement back to the city鈥檚 school board.

But except for short periods that never lasted more than a year, the district has not met the teacher diversity goal.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a legally binding order which the district has not complied with,鈥� Espinoza-Madrigal said. 鈥淲e are certainly willing and able to seek legal relief in federal court.鈥� But the lawyer and the suit鈥檚 plaintiffs, including the city鈥檚 NAACP chapter, would like to exhaust other options before reactivating the suit.

The district has not treated the requirement 鈥渁s a standing court order for about 20 years, and that鈥檚 problematic,鈥� said Tanisha Sullivan, president of the NAACP鈥檚 Boston branch. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e treated it like an option versus a requirement.鈥�

Falling short

Despite its unique history, Boston Public Schools isn鈥檛 alone in trying to diversify its workforce. have pledged to increase their numbers of teachers of color to match student populations by 2040, but predicted that these gaps will persist or grow through 2060.

Boston鈥檚 push is occurring against the backdrop of a nationwide shortage of teaching candidates. From 2008 to 2015, there was a 15 percent drop in the number of students who earned an education degree, according to a from the Economic Policy Institute.

Even with pay that can net a teacher $100,000 after about seven years in the district, Boston faces competition, both in-state and nationwide. Although the district employs 47 percent of the state鈥檚 teachers of color, that has only allowed it to maintain the status quo for the past five years. It currently has 21.1 percent Black teachers.

Barbara Fields, of the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts, one of the plaintiffs in the 1974 suit, blames the stagnation on a lack of consistent district leadership. Boston has had four superintendents in the past five years.

Fields worked in the district鈥檚 Office of Equity from 1981 to 2007. It was during her tenure that the district鈥檚 percentage of Black teachers peaked at 26 percent, she said. Because this figure wasn鈥檛 retained, the district was unable to meet the court order.

But since her tenure, Fields said, the office lost its power to sign off on every hire in the district, denying it a chance to more closely hew to the one-to-one ratio decreed by Garrity. When she led the office, that sign-off meant Fields could question individual decisions, such as when a highly rated Black teacher wasn鈥檛 hired for a full-time position.

鈥淒espite all the rhetoric and supposed commitment, they鈥檙e just not committed鈥� to ending the court order, Fields said. Three-quarters of the Alliance鈥檚 membership are district teachers, she added. 鈥淲e know [Black teachers] want to stay.鈥�

This position is backed by Sullivan, who was the district鈥檚 chief equity officer from 2013 to 2015. 鈥淚 absolutely believe it鈥檚 critically important [for the Office of Equity] to have sign-off authority,鈥� she said. Looking through history, she said the only times the district has risen, albeit temporarily, above the 25 percent level for Black teachers was when the office had both review and sign-off power.

Changing demographics

The nation鈥檚 demographics have shifted radically since 1974. Students of color now outnumber white students in public schools, but the percentages of teachers of color 鈥� which include Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders and American Indians 鈥� have only inched up, rising from 13 percent nationwide in 1987 to 18 percent in 2012, according to a from the U.S. Department of Education.

Ceronne Daly, Boston鈥檚 managing director of recruitment, cultivation and diversity, said that hewing to the court鈥檚 one-for-one order wouldn鈥檛 work for a district where students of color now make up 86 percent of the district. In 1974, the district was roughly 60 percent white students, according to the . Now the is only 14 percent white.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 recruit our way into increasing鈥� the district鈥檚 number of teachers of color, she said, even though the district has recruited nationally for years, intentionally building connections with several historically Black colleges and universities. To reach the court鈥檚 goal, the city would need to replace about 170 non-Black teachers with Black teachers. In the past five years, the district has hired about 1,000 educators a year, roughly a quarter of whom have been Black.

Noting that some districts, including , have lost up to 30 percent of their teachers of color, Daly said Boston is 鈥渄oing a lot of paddling under the water to stay steady.鈥�

She said the district avoids overt pressure to hire teachers of color, finding that dictating hires can result in awkward fits that end with more teachers leaving the profession quickly. But the district nonetheless expects principals to have staffs that match their student populations. Daly said her office鈥檚 goal was twofold: to get enough candidates of color in front of principals and to create a community where diverse educators can feel not only comfortable but valued.

鈥榃hen we recruit our own鈥�

Whereas Boston had to be forced to confront its bigotry in 1974, today鈥檚 officials are up-front about where they stand. The second page of the district鈥檚 hiring this year plainly states how the city has not yet met the terms of the court order. 鈥淚 give them credit for not shying away from鈥� it, said Espinoza-Madrigal. 鈥淲e have to applaud their progress while also pushing for more.鈥�

Daly鈥檚 office includes eight people and runs nine programs aimed specifically at recruiting a more diverse workforce. These programs aim to encourage and support community members and paraprofessionals to make the jump to becoming certified teachers. Forty-six teachers of color were hired this school year from these programs. The most ambitious initiative is the High School to Teacher program that identifies potential teachers as early as the seventh grade and then supports them through college with the goal of eventually employing them in Boston. Right now, the program has 55 participants, ranging from ninth-graders to college sophomores. Thirty of the group鈥檚 members are Black, and 12 of those 30 are in college.

鈥淣o teacher preparation program can keep abreast of our needs,鈥� Daly said. 鈥淭he next generation of teachers are sitting in our classrooms right now.鈥�

Originally, the initiative identified students in high school, but it lost contact when graduates attended college. Daly revamped the program recently. The new program, which she said the district is 鈥渄oubling, tripling down on,鈥� will remain in contact with students throughout college, using the city鈥檚 contacts with state colleges and historically black colleges and universities to offer students access to those schools鈥� education programs and scholarship opportunities.

鈥淲e鈥檙e selfish. When we recruit our own, we don鈥檛 have a retention problem,鈥� she noted.

Xyra Mercer, a junior at the Henderson Inclusion School in Dorchester, is part of this program. She attends afterschool meetings every two weeks where participants get tutoring help and then hear a talk about various subjects, from r茅sum茅-building to how to plan a senior capstone project.

She said her mother, who was born in Jamaica, made her aware of Boston鈥檚 troubled racial history. She acknowledged that she feels a stronger connection with teachers of color at her school, especially one who comes from the Caribbean. And not only does she plan to attend college and return to Boston to teach, she also has hopes to one day earn a doctorate and enter politics.

鈥淧eople always told me I was going to be something big,鈥� she said. 鈥淭eachers have a lot of impact on students. They are almost as important as doctors.鈥�

鈥楾he biggest issue is retention鈥�

In addition to having fewer teacher candidates to choose from, schools nationwide have more trouble than ever keeping the teachers they have, especially in high-poverty schools. In 2012, . Many teachers say they leave the profession because of poor preparation, lack of support and low pay, according to a 聽from the Learning Policy Institute.

When Travis Bristol, an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Boston鈥檚 Black male teachers in 2012-13, he noted that half left the district during his research after facing the challenge of being 鈥渂ehavior managers鈥� more than teachers and enduring poor working conditions in their schools.

Teachers who were the only Black males in their schools reported feeling isolated and disconnected from their campus鈥檚 core mission, Bristol reported.

鈥淭here is a supply issue,鈥� he said, but the 鈥渂iggest issue is retention.鈥� Recruiting teachers and then having them leave the profession for a variety of reasons 鈥渋s like trying to fix a leaky pipe with water.鈥�

Daly said that issue has improved in the past five years. Two district groups that started after Bristol鈥檚 report, Male Educators of Color and Female Educators of Color, aim to increase retention and offer platforms for teachers to discuss problems and concerns. The nine-month programs connect fairly new teachers with older educators and university professors twice a month.

鈥淚t was so powerful to have this space exist when we went remote鈥� during the pandemic, Daly said. Having educators of color meet online to process the country鈥檚 mood after George Floyd鈥檚 death 鈥渋s hard to describe. Gallery view is a powerful thing in Zoom.鈥�

Joseney described why the group was so valuable. 鈥淚 definitely don鈥檛 have a problem speaking up鈥� about race and equity, he said, adding that he has to guard against 鈥渆nding up the 鈥榓ngry Black person鈥欌�� at his school. In his male educators group, he said, he feels his opinion is valued and he also receives leadership training and professional development. 鈥淓very teacher that has left [the group] has been better,鈥� he noted. 鈥淚 have a support system, a brotherhood. [The district鈥檚] retention efforts have been genuine.鈥�

The numbers prove the programs鈥� worth: Over five years, 76 percent of men in the program have remained in the district, while the women鈥檚 retention rate over four years is 91 percent, Daly said. These programs also prepare teachers to move into leadership positions, with 14 teachers in the past five years gaining promotions.

Still, even with additional recruitment and better retention, Daly fears that the district鈥檚 diversity might plummet in the years to come. The Black teachers who joined the district in the post-1974 hiring push are aging out of the workforce, she said. More than a quarter of the city鈥檚 teachers are 57 years old or older, and over the past five years, 26 percent of Boston鈥檚 retiring teachers have been black.

鈥淲e know what the next five years of retirement could look like,鈥� she said.

She worries that uncertainty about teaching during a pandemic will hasten additional departures. Boston teachers returned on Sept. 8, but students won鈥檛 start remote learning until Sept. 21.

Daly recognizes that boosting the district鈥檚 Black teacher percentage and finally meeting the court order will be difficult. 鈥淭he data tell us what the challenge is,鈥� she said. The competition for talented teachers of color will increase, and these people 鈥渃an work wherever they want. We need to make educators of color, administrators of color, see the value of staying.鈥�

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