Diverse students benefit from diverse teachers, the research and stories back that up.  Yet there are huge mismatches between the students in public schools and the staff, particularly at the teaching and leadership levels.  We need the OUSD board and the boards of public charter schools to adopt goals, timetables and supports for hiring, developing, and retaining diverse teachers, so that our students roughly mirror our educators within 10 years. With each body providing a public annual report on programs and progress towards goals.

Black teachers have an immense effect on the outcomes for Black students.  A large multistate study with over 100,000 students showed conclusively that "Having at least one black teacher in third through fifth grades reduced a black student’s probability of dropping out of school by 29 percent, the study found. For very low-income black boys, the results are even greater – their chance of dropping out fell 39 percent"

Other research has shown that ALL students tend to prefer Latino and Black teachers compared to White teachers.

Yet California has declining numbers of Black teachers. We need to change this outcome, if we are going to change outcomes for families, please sign the petition and support us, supporting them.