--- description: While the population of minority students in public schools has risen steadily over the past few decades, most teachers are white title: Only 18% of Teachers Are Nonwhite, Education Study Finds image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf50a3685d66d396/69868dcce53aba096d4d26a0/171572398.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Education](/tag/education/) ## Education Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Study: Less Than 1 in 5 Public-School Teachers Are Nonwhite  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 4, 2014 3:24 PM CUT  Silhouette of Student in hallway by lockers Silhouette of Student in hallway by lockersGetty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 4, 2014 3:24 PM CUT New research on the “diversity gap” in U.S. public schools has revealed that a mere [18% of teachers](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-teachers-nowhere-diverse-their-students "undefined") are nonwhite, while roughly half of all students are minorities. New studies from the National Education Association (NEA) and the Center for American Progress focus on the racial breakdown of staff and pupils at the elementary and high school levels, the Associated Press reports. Of the approximately 3.3 million teachers working in 2012, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, roughly 82% were white, 8% were Hispanic, 7% were black and 2% were Asian. Meanwhile, 48% of public-school students are nonwhite, according to the Center for American Progress: 23% Hispanic, 16% black and 5% Asian. The number of minority students has grown steadily. In 1993, they made up 31% of public-school students. In 2003, that figure was 41%. The number is expected to continue to grow. Education groups want action at the political level to attract more African-American, Hispanic and Asian teachers. “Nothing can help motivate our students more than to see success standing right in front of them,” says Kevin Gilbert of the NEA’s executive committee. \[[AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-teachers-nowhere-diverse-their-students "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/87095/nonwhite-teachers-education-diversity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/87095/nonwhite-teachers-education-diversity/"},"headline":"Study: Less Than 1 in 5 Public-School Teachers Are Nonwhite","datePublished":"2014-05-04T15:24:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:38:40.216Z","description":"While the population of minority students in public schools has risen steadily over the past few decades, new research finds that just 18% of teachers in those schools are nonwhite, raising concerns about lack of diverse role models for kids","url":"https://time.com/87095/nonwhite-teachers-education-diversity/","keywords":["Education","Race","Diversity","Students","Teachers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf50a3685d66d396/69868dcce53aba096d4d26a0/171572398.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf50a3685d66d396/69868dcce53aba096d4d26a0/171572398.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"high school","caption":"high school","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/87095/nonwhite-teachers-education-diversity/","name":"Study: Less Than 1 in 5 Public-School Teachers Are Nonwhite"}}]}] ```