JACKSONVILLE, Fla., October 25, 2021 – The Jacksonville Public Education Fund recently announced a community-wide goal to better recruit and retain diverse male teachers in Duval County.

In partnership with others in Jacksonville, JPEF is committed to recruiting and retaining 1,000 male educators by 2025 to help bridge the gap in teacher diversity. This represents an annual growth of at least 12%.

“For years, research has shown that teachers are role models and that all students benefit from diversity among their teachers,” said JPEF President Rachael Tutwiler Fortune. “With this announcement, Duval County joins communities across the country who have chosen to focus on teacher diversity as a key lever to improve student outcomes and promote educational equity. I am incredibly proud of my hometown for making this public commitment.

The announcement, made at JPEF’s EDTalks luncheon, builds on original JPEF research showing the lack of representation among Duval County teachers. The JPEF study found that black and Latino male teachers made up less than 10% of public school teachers in Duval County, while black and Latino students made up about 30% of the student body. Figures for Duval County mirror those for the country, where the shortage of diverse male teachers is also acute.

“The idea of ​​diversifying the teacher education pipeline takes all the practical work,” said Dr. Rudy Jamison, professor at the UNF College of Education and Human Services. “I don’t think there was a comprehensive strategy, so this collective approach is extremely important. I don’t know of any organization that is equipped to lead this effort other than JPEF.

JPEF will work with partners including Duval County Public Schools, University of North Florida College of Education and Social Services, education partners such as Teach for America and City Year, as well as local and regional historically black colleges and universities in this effort. The initiative will also use innovative strategies, such as providing financial incentives to faith-based partners, teacher influencers, and peer mentors to help recruit and retain teachers while presenting teaching as an opportunity. respected and rewarding career for women and men.

The EDTalks fundraiser, which featured guest speaker Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, professor at Princeton and best-selling author, raised over $ 20,000 to support this work. The event was made possible by the generous support of the Chartrand family, speaker sponsor, gold sponsors Poppy and Rob Clements, Cindy and Dan Edelman, CSX, The Miller Families, READ USA, Inc., anonymous on Honor of James Baldwin, Silver Sponsors The Honorable Judge Brian J. Davis, The Northeast Florida Community Foundation, SS&C Technologies, Terry & Lon Walton and many more.

“We know there is an undeniable link between student success and the diversity among our educators, especially when it comes to our young men of color with classroom role models that look like them.” said Superintendent Diana Greene. “This fuels our teacher recruitment efforts, and I am very grateful to JPEF for taking the initiative to create a holistic approach that brings together community partners with whom we can strategically collaborate around this important goal.”

Contact Betsy Penisten, Communications and Development Associate, at [email protected] for more information.

About the Jacksonville Public Education Fund

The Jacksonville Public Education Fund is an independent think tank that believes in the potential of all students. We work tirelessly to close the gap in opportunity for low income students and students of color. We are bringing together educators, school system leaders and the community to pilot and help scale evidence-based solutions that improve the quality of schools in Duval County. For more information: www.jaxpef.org.