Why Black teachers Walk Away

Edutopia article by Youki Terada

“Mr. Ford is having a really hard time with his class. I’m not saying that he’s not intelligent. I’m just wondering where he went to school.”

Toya Frank was disheartened by a conversation she was having with a parent about a math teacher—a Black math teacher—at her school. It was her responsibility as the chair of the math department to listen to parents and focus on what was best for the students. But did that include addressing whether the Black math teachers were as qualified as their White colleagues?

As a Black math teacher herself, Frank recognized the subtle microaggressions, the slights and insults, that teachers of color experienced on a regular basis. She was used to the brief look of disbelief when she let parents know that she was the math department chair, as if to say, “You’re the chair? I expected someone else.”