Alabama Officials Predict Fewer Minority Teachers  

FLORENCE, Ala.

      Education officials are predicting that there could be fewer minority teachers in schools if the trend continues.

      Of the 1,000 students majoring in education at the University of North Alabama, 8 percent are nonWhite.

      That figure is in keeping with the average percentage of certified minority employees in the Shoals school districts.

      Mark Edwards, dean of the college of education, says his program isn't pulling in Black students or the international students who primarily pursue a business degree.

The result of those low minority numbers in his education program can only mean fewer minority teachers in the Shoals, he says.

      ``NonWhite students just aren't pursuing education degrees because they don't believe it to be financially lucrative,'' Edwards said. ``Of those who do, there are countless school districts around the Southeast willing to pay bonuses and offer other incentives, and Alabama can't compete.''

      The lure of large school districts in other states offering signing bonuses is attractive to young minorities who are seeking the cultural opportunities of big cities.

It's a dilemma Sheneta Smith knows all too well.

      Smith, who is Black, became an administrative assistant in Muscle Shoals last year.

      She had been a physical education teacher for six years in the system. She has moved into administration and wears many hats: nonresident and homeless coordinator, attendance officer and director of the system's English Language Learner program, to name a few.

      ``I'm here because it was the first job I was offered,'' Smith said, adding that both her parents are educators. ``I believe in public education, and I stay with it.''