Duncan said a key to America’s success is to have classrooms that are more reflective of the nation’s diverse student body. Citing statistics that only one in 50 teachers today is an African-American man, and less than 2 percent of teachers are Latino, Duncan said schools must find ways to attract more minority teachers as well as more educators willing to work in urban schools. He also was planning to speak later in the day at Princeton University, to urge students there to pursue teaching as a way of serving their country.
The Obama administration has set a goal of recruiting 1 million new teachers in order to make the U.S. the top nation for the number of college graduates by the year 2020. Duncan said he’d been studying examples of innovative programs from around the U.S., and in other countries, on how to improve the education system when resources are scant.
At a time when the vilification of teachers unions has gained political traction across the country — including in New Jersey —both Duncan and Booker emphasized Wednesday that improving education is a bipartisan cause.
“We’ve got to stop focusing on personalities,” Booker said, “and start focusing on progress.”
