Ed. Secretary Pushes Minorities, Men To Teach

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, joined by Grammy Award-winning artist John Legend, will visit Howard University in Washington, D.C., at 11:25 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, to encourage students to choose teaching careers. The visit is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s TEACH campaign, a national teacher recruitment initiative launched earlier this year to celebrate and recruit more diverse, high quality teachers. Secretary Duncan and Legend will host a TEACH town hall meeting with students and educators in the university’s Cramton Auditorium. Legend will share his involvement in education and his work with both TEACH and Show Me campaigns.

“With more than a million teachers expected to retire in the coming years, we have a historic opportunity to transform public education in America by calling on a new generation to join those already in the classroom,” Secretary Duncan said. “We are working with the broader education community to strengthen and elevate the entire teaching profession so that every teacher has the support and training they need to succeed. Education is the great equalizer in America. If you care about promoting opportunity and reducing inequality, the classroom is the place to start.”

The TEACH campaign encourages more minorities, especially males, to pursue careers in the classroom. Nationwide, more than 35 percent of public school students are African American or Hispanic, but less than 15 percent of teachers are African American or Hispanic. Less than two percent of our nation’s teachers are African American males.