Since he was a grad student at the University, UT education professor Edward Fuller has been studying race- and income-based educational inequities among Texas public schools.
"I was a high school teacher, and a lot of my friends were teachers, and I just saw the huge difference in teacher quality across schools," Fuller said. "Poor minority schools weren't getting the same teachers."
In many schools across Texas in which minority students represent the majority of the student body, almost 20 percent of math teachers and 40 percent of science teachers weren't certified for the courses they were teaching, according to a study by Fuller published Aug. 4.
Education senior Diana Banh said she'd experienced these inequities first-hand by tutoring children from schools with student bodies composed predominantly of minorities.
"Things are really different [in predominantly minority schools] from the schools in neighborhoods for mostly Caucasians - the reading levels are very different," said Banh, who is also the secretary of UT's Minorities in Education student group. "It shows the level of support that they have."
According to Fuller, the state requires that school districts equalize teacher quality, but legislators and district officials are not providing the necessary resources or are ignoring the mandate altogether.
Fuller said that while efforts had been made to attract qualified teachers to poor minority schools, the incentives weren't great enough. He said the $2,000 bonuses some districts offer teachers willing to work in low-income schools isn't enough to compensate for increased behavioral problems, lack of teacher support and a less stable work environment.
Banh said issues such as these are keeping qualified young teachers from wanting to teach students in low-income districts.
"[Young teachers] want to be dealing with their education and helping them learn, not getting them out of trouble," she said.
Fuller said poor minority schools often end up with underqualified teachers who have barely made it through alternative certification programs. Austin, he said, is no different.
"Austin has one of the most segregated school systems, which equals one of most inequitable," Fuller said. "That's the sad part, because those are the kids who need the best teachers - we give the worst. We're giving them teachers who can barely pass the certification test."
Fuller said he's testified before the Texas Legislature several times on the issue, but hasn't seen results.
"[Legislators] nod their head[s] when I talk to them, but as soon as it's in the legislative session, they've forgotten about it," Fuller said. "The current leadership doesn't consider education a top priority. The state's really not investing in it."
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