A recent survey by the National Education Association shows that nationwide only one teacher in 10 is a minority, and only two teachers in 10 are men.

Those figures are no surprise to Oak Harbor Middle School teacher Evett Morgan-Mueller. She is one of only two African-American teachers in the Oak Harbor School District, both of whom are women. Until this year, she was the only one. She jokingly refers to herself as the “resident black teacher,” but the lack of minority teachers in Oak Harbor schools is no laughing matter.

District-wide in 2002-2003, minorities made up less than 4 percent of the teaching staff, while nearly 27 percent of the student body were minorities, according to figures in the district’s Affirmative Action Program.

In real numbers, that’s 1,671 minority students to 13 minority teachers. That percentage has stayed fairly consistent over the years.

Middle school teacher Amber Sundown-Schwartz, who is Native-American and white, said the visible absence of minorities affects the student body.

“We want to be a mirror of society,” she said. “Students have to learn to deal with all of society.”

Morgan-Mueller agreed. “It’s important for all students to see that I don’t act like blacks on TV. I don’t do hip hop or use slang — I crack the whip just like everyone else. We need to be anyone’s role model.”

Barbara James, school district Human Resources director, said the district’s Affirmative Action goal is two-fold: “to have the same diversity in the district as in Island County, and to hire the most qualified person for the position.”

High ratio of minority students

It is difficult, however, to emulate the county’s ratio of whites to minorities, because the student population has a far higher percentage of minorities. The 2000 census shows a county-wide number of 10 percent for all minorities. That number is more than double for the student population due in large part to Navy personnel with young children. While the district averages 27 percent minority students, it ranges from a low of 21 percent at Crescent Harbor Elementary to a high of nearly 41 percent at Olympic View Elementary. Nationwide, almost 40 percent of students are minorities, according the education association survey.

“Oak Harbor is really not out of line with the national figures,” James said.

All applicant categories down

While the school district would like to hire more minority teachers, applicants are down overall, James said. This year the district received 81 applications for 31 certificated positions, 25 of which were from minorities. Of those, only five met the district’s screening process and were interviewed. Three were hired, and two of those were women.

James said race and ethnicity are not considered or even known in the screening process. Hiring is based solely on qualifications.

Statistics on race and ethnicity are kept as part of the Affirmative Action Plan that the district follows. It is mandated by state and federal Equal Opportunity regulations, and designed to ensure equal opportunity across the district.

For the purpose of the Affirmative Action Plan, minorities were categorized as black, Asian, American Indian or Hispanic. Filipino-Americans are categorized as Asian.

Minority teachers hard to attract

One of the district’s goals, as stated in the Affirmative Action Plan, is to focus on increasing applications from minority candidates.

Morgan-Mueller and Sundown-Schwartz are Oak Harbor natives, and acknowledge it can be hard to recruit minority teachers to relatively remote Oak Harbor without a pay incentive.

It is a phenomenon nationwide that minorities who attain a college degree don’t want to go into what they see as a low-paying profession, according to the national survey.

“If you can get $50,000 or $60,000 starting salary, or $25,000, which would you choose?” Morgan-Mueller said.

They suggested the district needs to promote the community in their recruiting efforts, not just the school system. They also suggested the district look within the student body for potential teachers. Both of them graduated from Oak Harbor High School, and later came back to teach in their home town.

“There are lots of college-bound kids in the district,” Sundown-Schwartz said. “The district should try to encourage them to go into teaching.” She remembers a high school teacher who told her not to go into teaching.

James said the district sends recruiting information to 18 historically black universities, as well as schools throughout the Northwest, with little success.

“I don’t think we’ve ever received a minority application from back east,” James said.

The district also attends career fairs, but James said she sees few prospective minority teachers at those events.

Whatever it takes, Sundown-Schwartz feels increasing diversity among teachers is worth it.

“I’m very proud of who I am and my background. We are all unique and special,” she said. “Life is rich with variety and color. We need to open eyes to that around here.”

You can reach News-Times reporter Marcie Miller at mmiller@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611