Increasing the diversity of our workforce is another key component to achieving racial equity for students in UPSD.
Increasing the diversity of our workforce is another key component to achieving racial equity for students in UPSD. This goal is shared by nearly all districts in our region and state. Efforts to diversify our staff are working. In 2018, 14.7% of staff were people of color. This percentage has increased steadily each year to 15.7% in 2019, 16.5% in 2020 and 18.4% in 2021. While progress is being made over time, these numbers are still not reflective enough of our diverse student population (about 51% non white). We remain committed to recruitment and retention efforts for employees of color.
UPSD has an affirmative action plan (2018-2023) in place with the specific goal of diversifying our workforce to better reflect our community. Attracting more teachers of color remains a significant challenge here and across our country. According to the US Department of Education National Center of Education Statistics, between 1999 and 2018, the percentage of teachers of color in US schools increased by only 5% from 16% to 21%. Attracting and retaining a diverse workforce will require action at each level of the "pipeline" explained below. The figure show the pathway from high school graduation to becoming a certificated classroom teacher. (US Dept. of Education, The State of Racial Diversity in the Educator Workforce, 2016)
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