California Voters' Opinions on Racial Diversity in the Teaching Force: The Effect of Issue Frames

• In Event: Division L Roundtable Session

Abstract

Students of color benefit from having a teacher who shares their racial identity. We use data from the 2020 withheld for anonymity poll to report on California voters’ attitudes towards increasing the number of teachers of color in California. A majority of voters believed this was important. Respondents showed higher levels of support for increasing the number of teachers of color when informed about the positive academic impact this would likely have for students of color. Support varied depending on voters’ race/ethnicity and political party. White respondents were less likely to support increasing the number of teachers of color as compared to African American and Latinx respondents; Republicans were less likely to show support as compared to Democrats and Independents.

Authors

• Tara-Marie Kirsten Desruisseaux, University of Southern California

• David Quinn, University of Southern California

• Akua Nkansah-Amankra, University of Southern California