Unrepresented: Creating equitable classrooms in Kansas

Abstract

In July 2022, KMUW, a National Public Radio member station in Wichita, Kansas published an article about the teacher shortage in Kansas. The article states that 4% of teaching jobs, or roughly 1,400, in Kansas are unfilled as more educators leave the profession either to retire early or to pursue another career. Teachers of color were more likely to state their intentions to leave the profession, yet these teachers were not represented in this article. Not surprising given that 90% of Kansas public school teachers identify as White, Non-Hispanic, unlike the Kansas student body, who only 66% identify as White, Non-Hispanic. This is ongoing research that looks at the ways to retain teachers of color in Kansas.