Despite the assertions of opponents of charter schools, teachers in those institutions tend to actually be more diverse than their traditional public school counterparts, data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) show. “Nonwhite teachers not only were sharply outnumbered by white teachers in America’s classrooms, they also tended to work in different school environments, the NCES data show,” Abigail Geiger writes. “For example, 31% of teachers in city schools were nonwhite, versus just 11% of teachers in rural schools – a reflection of the broader racial and ethnic makeup of America’s communities.”
“And while nonwhite teachers accounted for 29% of the total in public charter schools, their share was considerably lower in traditional public schools (19%).” Geiger is an associate digital producer and writer for Pew Research Center.
