Unit to Examine Minorities in Teacher Ranks
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LONG BEACH — Curtis McCray, president of Cal State Long Beach, has established a special task force at the university to examine the shortage of ethnic minorities entering the teaching profession.
“(There is a) national and local crisis in attracting minorities into teaching careers,” McCray said in a press release announcing formation of the 12-member task force. “We should not just sit back and allow this situation to get worse.”
According to statistics from the National Education Assn., minorities currently compose about 9% of all the teachers in America. But despite the fact that the nation’s classrooms--including those in Long Beach--are being occupied increasingly by minority students, the association predicts that by the turn of the century only one public school teacher in 20 will be a member of a minority.
“Teacher preparation is an important part of the mission of CSULB,” McCray said. “An important dimension . . . must be minority recruitment strategies.”
The president’s task force, which will meet regularly, is slated to present its recommendations on the matter before Sept. 1.
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