The Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board’s (PELSB) key priority since beginning operations in January 2018 has been diversifying the state’s teacher workforce. In this work, the Board has focused on identifying and aligning strategies to break down the financial and systemic barriers that people of color face when becoming a teacher in Minnesota.

Our /pelsb/assets/2019%20Supply%20and%20Demand%20Report_tcm1113-370206.pdf2019 Minnesota Teacher Supply and Demand report, which examined the makeup and diversity of the state’s teacher workforce, found teachers of color made up only 4.4 percent of the state’s teacher workforce even though a third of Minnesota’s students are students of color.

These disparities are significant throughout Minnesota. In greater Minnesota, the percentage of teachers of color hovers around one percent despite the fact that the percentage of students of color exceeds double digits across all regions of the state. Meanwhile, the Twin Cities metro-area has the highest proportion of teachers of color anywhere in the state at seven percent. Yet that number falls short of the proportion of students who are not white, which is approximately 45 percent.

In short, work is needed to get more teachers into public school classrooms who more accurately reflect the diverse population of Minnesota’s students.

So, what is PELSB doing to support efforts to diversify Minnesota’s teacher workforce? 

In December 2018, PELSB members unanimously voted to support the Increase Teachers of Color Act. The bill aims to diversify Minnesota’s teacher workforce through specific strategies that would recruit and prepare more teacher candidates from diverse backgrounds, provide financial support to assist those candidates with their completion of teaching preparation programs, and implement strategies to retain more teachers of color and American Indian teachers. The Board believes this bill will help diversity Minnesota’s teacher workforce, and this diversity will positively impact all of Minnesota’s students and school communities. 

At the moment, the Increase Teachers of Color Act has been introduced in both the Minnesota House and Senate. On March 26, Board member Jim Miklausich testified before a House committee on behalf of PELSB in support of the bill, noting that it provides “an important first step toward creating a well-prepared, high-quality teacher workforce that reflects Minnesota students.” 

Beyond supporting legislation, PELSB has also turned its focus toward breaking down systemic barriers teachers of color face when joining the profession. 

In October 2018, PELSB adopted new requirements for cultural competency training for all Minnesota teachers. The training must include self-reflection and discussions on issues of race, religion, systemic racism, language diversity, gender identity, and sexual orientation, among other topics. The training must also include components that encourage teachers to reflect on their own cultural frames of reference and the impact implicit biases can have on relationships with students and families, fellow teachers and staff, and the entire school community. 

As part of the implementation process, PELSB partnered with several individuals and organizations to develop curriculum that will help Minnesota teachers meet these new training requirements. The Board and several host partners are offering cultural competency training sessions free of charge to teachers across the state beginning in May.

PELSB is also working to /pelsb/board/rulemaking/program-unit-rules/index.jspupdate the standards Minnesota teacher preparation providers and programs must meet in order to receive Board approval. PELSB staff have worked closely with many stakeholders to develop and strengthen language in the standards to ensure preparation providers include instruction for teaching candidates about the role teachers can have in identifying and disrupting systems of racism, privilege, and oppression in the school community.

In addition to cultural competency work, PELSB adopted new requirements in October 2018 for comprehensive and robust mentorship programs. PELSB has begun initial conversations to develop “Train the Trainer” programs, which will provide mentorship and coaching training to leaders in the teaching profession about the new requirements. These leaders will then have the ability to provide mentorship and coaching training to other teachers across Minnesota.

PELSB believes training teacher mentors, who then train additional mentors, will create a network of professional support that can improve the retention of all Minnesota’s teachers. This support network is especially important for teachers holding Tier 1 and Tier 2 licenses, which includes approximately 12 percent teachers of color. Many of these teachers have not had formal teacher preparation, and mentorship can ensure these new teachers are not isolated when navigating their first years in the profession.

PELSB knows these efforts are merely first steps toward confronting the challenges Minnesota faces in recruiting, training, and retaining a high-quality, diverse teacher workforce. Systemic problems of race and diversity within our public schools are more complicated than the biases of one or two individuals, and complex solutions are needed to face these issues. The Board is committed to implementing immediate changes to confront these problems while working toward creating long-term shifts in school climates to make schools more welcoming not only for teachers of color, but for all students and their families, current and future teachers, administrators, and staff.