The first full week of May was once again recognized as Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States. The National Parent Teacher Association began this tradition in 1984 to acknowledge the contributions made by educators throughout the country.
There are now nearly four million teachers in America, the majority of whom are teaching in public schools. The rest, around half a million, are educating future generations in the private realm.
Despite the many diversification efforts made over the past couple of decades, the teaching profession is still a predominantly white field. According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 80 percent of all teachers in the United States are white, with the other races combining for just one in five teaching positions nationwide.
However, a noteworthy glimmer of hope for the Latino community is that Hispanics comprise the second largest segment of the teaching pool, at around 9 percent for the 2019-2020 school year, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world.
More good news: While still in single digits, the number of Hispanic teachers in the United States has nearly tripled since 1990, according to U.S. Census Department data. So numbers are on the rise and will hopefully continue this upward trajectory in both the near and distant future.
So, thank your favorite teacher and encourage them to continue doing what they do for our children. And watch those Latino figures continue to grow as more and more diverse teachers enter and excel in the American workforce.