Program aims to attract black males into teaching: Teens encouraged to join the profession; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/4/14

Eric Boodman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Program aims to attract black males into teaching: Teens encouraged to join the profession:

"Less than 2 percent of teachers in the U.S. are African-American males, according to Robert Millward, education professor at IUP. To try to increase those numbers, Mr. Millward started the Black Men Teaching Initiative, which led to the teens, male and female, from Homewood Children's Village attending a workshop at IUP.

Through workshops such as this one, billboards on buses and changes in admissions policies, professors and administrators at IUP, California University of Pennsylvania, Point Park University and Community College of Allegheny County are trying to persuade young black men to pursue higher education and to become teachers. The second task is more difficult than the first, Mr. Millward explained...

The organizers of the Black Men Teaching Initiative hope that providing African-American middle and high school students with mentors and role models will create a snowball effect. Stanley Denton, the professor in charge of the initiative at Point Park University, remembers being stared at as he walked the halls of Pittsburgh schools as the district's director of multicultural education...

While outside education experts applaud the effort, they also warn against viewing an increase in the numbers as the only solution. "It can't be seen as a panacea," Mr. Milner said. He mentioned inequitable funding, inadequate resources and under-qualified teachers as hurdles that can trip up black students, regardless of the number of black male teachers.

"Black male teachers can serve as role models, especially for black male students, but what are we going to do to support black male teachers who take on these other layers of responsibility?" he asked."