EdTrust-West Responds to Long-Awaited California Teacher Workforce Demographic Data

Oakland, CA — Melissa Valenzuela-Stookey, Director of P-16 Research at EdTrust-West, issued the following statement in response to the long-awaited release of five years of data on teacher demographics and experience across California’s TK-12 school districts by the California Department of Education (CDE):

Research repeatedly reaffirms that one of the most powerful ways California can support its young people to achieve success in math, reading, and beyond, is to ensure they can see themselves in their teachers. California’s educator workforce is slowly moving closer to reflecting California’s students, but the fact that the state’s share of teachers of color is still only half of the share of students of color makes it clear that we can’t afford to let up.

The state is making progress, albeit too slowly. In the space of five years, the share of teachers of color statewide grew by 4 percentage points (from 35% to 39%). Though 73% of California school districts saw an increase in the share of teachers of color on their payrolls, the vast majority still have a smaller share of teachers of color than students of color. California’s teacher workforce is diversifying, but it’s still strikingly far from matching the share of students of color in our schools (79%).

Diversifying the teacher workforce won’t happen by accident—especially in the face of attacks on both public education and racial justice. The state has been wise to protect programs like the Teacher Residency Grant Program, Golden State Pathways Program, and the National Board Certification Program. Removing arbitrary barriers to becoming a teacher, adding policies that increase teacher compensation, and forming a state coordinating body to better implement and evaluate statewide initiatives and investments would go a long way toward accelerating progress. This is the commitment to educator diversity we need to get students the teachers they need.

We can’t maintain or build on this momentum without information. It has been six years since the CDE released data on teacher demographics; this is far too long to wait. The CDE should be required to release this data promptly each year and include it, ideally with bilingual certification data, in the Cradle-to-Career Data System. This time next year—and for all years to come—we want to be once again analyzing and learning from up-to-date data.

Among the key findings from this dataset:

• In the 2023-24 school year, 79% of TK-12 students were students of color compared to 39% of teachers. The share of teachers of color has increased by 4 percentage points since 2019-20.
• Latinx students (56% of TK-12 students in 2023-24) are still underrepresented in the teacher workforce with Latinx teachers currently comprising 26% of teachers, though an additional 11,922 Latinx teachers were added to the workforce between 2019-20 and 2023-24, and the share of Latinx teachers increased from 22% to 26%.
• Black students (5% of TK-12 students in 2023-24) continue to be underrepresented compared to Black teachers (just under 4% of teachers in 2023-24). Although the statewide share of Black teachers remained virtually identical in 2019-20 (3.7%) and 2023-24 (3.6%), the number of Black teachers in California classrooms decreased from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
• Asian students are also underrepresented in the teacher workforce, with Asian teachers comprising 6% of the workforce compared to 10% of students.
• 740 districts (73% of districts) have seen an increase in the share of teachers of color between 2019-20 and 2023-24. Despite the increase, these districts still have a long way to go to ensure students are proportionally represented; the vast majority of these districts still have a smaller share of teachers of color than students of color.

Please contact Mariel Matze at 510-879-6208 for support with further comment.