Also read: education, scholarships, Latino, Black, workplace diversity

A quick web search of the term "racial diversity of teachers" yields pages of results. But only one result offers a concrete diversity initiative to ensure that teachers from underrepresented groups end up in public-school classrooms.

Click here to read "Need Talent? One Company's Solution."

Click here to read "Is Black Culture the Problem With Education?"

Click here to read "How Is Rutgers University Using Diversity to Transform Learning & Society?"

Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana recently signed a bill (HEA 1479) that will require school districts in the state to recruit educators from traditionally underrepresented populations. The bill will also require:

•      A web site to provide information on scholarships and resources for prospective teachers/education majors who are Black, Latino and Asian American

•       The development of research to address challenges faced by students from underrepresented populations and to recruit, retain and graduate students from high schools
  

In Indiana, the dropout rate is alarmingly high among Latino and Black students. Indiana Rep. Gregory W. Porter, who authored the new bill, says there's likely a direct correlation between the dropout rate and the lack of racially diverse educators in Indiana.

For example, 77 percent of Indiana students are white and 12 percent are Black. Yet 95 percent of the state's teachers are white and between 4 percent and 5 percent are Black.

Eric Love, director of the Office of Diversity Education at Indiana University, says once Indiana residents realize the need for racial diversity among teachers, the dropout rate should decline among traditionally underrepresented students.

"The sooner we recognize the issues regarding diversity, which are societal issues, the sooner we will start to see changes for the better for everybody," Love told the Indiana Daily Student newspaper.

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