Photographs by Wayne Miller—Magnum Photos. Featured Image
Currently, African American men represent just two percent of teachers in the nation and there’s even less in Illinois. Butler College Prep Principal Chris Goins is working on a solution.
“There are so many initiatives trying to recruit men of color into the classroom, but that’s after they are in college,” Goins said. “For whatever reason no one has really thought about how do we do this and identify them in high school at the same time.”
His “Intro to Urban Education” class—new to Butler this year–was specifically created to introduce students of color to a career in education.
His class of about 20 seniors is set up for the students to discuss social justice issues and potential solutions. They’re required to follow the news and policy around education. During one in class assignment, the students had to research the 2019 mayoral candidates and then defend who would best serve the city’s educational needs.
