ANN ARBOR, MI - While strides have been made by Ann Arbor Public Schools in hiring more African American principals and building leaders in recent years, the district’s annual staffing report notes it continues to struggle with hiring Asian American administrators to reflect its student population.
AAPS provided its annual staffing report during the Wednesday, Dec. 21 Ann Arbor School Board meeting, indicating the number of full-time positions for teachers and staff has mostly remained flat year-over-year, with 2,145 positions reflecting eight fewer than the district employed at the same time last year.
The district has brought on 247 new employees since July, including 139 teachers. But there are still challenges in finding qualified teachers and staff in a number of areas, AAPS Human Resources Director John Randle said.
“There’s a higher number of retirements that we’re dealing with,” Randle said. “We also have a smaller pool of applicants for professional and support staff.”
Beyond the challenges of making sure there are enough qualified teachers and professional staff, some school board members expressed concern that the district’s Asian American student population was not reflected in AAPS leadership.
A breakdown in principals among in the Ann Arbor Public Schools shows there have been no Asian principals employed by the district over the past four school years. AAPS also has not employed any Asian building leaders or administrators during that time.Image provided | AAPS
While Asian American students represent 13% of the district’s enrollment, AAPS does not employ any Asian American school principals, building leaders or administrators. Asian teachers and professional school staff accounted for just 4% of the district’s total, while just 5% of Asian Americans were paraeducators or support staff.
It’s a “point that needs to be addressed” in the years to come, Trustee Ernesto Querijero said, stressing it is a districtwide responsibility that doesn’t fall on any one individual.
“I think it’s important for us to talk a little bit about the consequences, which is that 13% of our students don’t see people like themselves in the roles of higher leadership and responsibility and that is even at the school principal level,” Querijero said.
Querijero said it concerns him that Asian American students, in particular, might be less inclined to voice concerns they have to teachers or building leaders if they don’t feel like they are represented.
“If we have a population that doesn’t see themselves reflected in the staff in front of them and leadership, it tells me that they’re less likely to share concerns that might be dear to them, unlike other populations that might feel very comfortable going to someone who looks like them to share those same types of concerns,” he said.
AAPS has, however, seen an increase in its African American leadership. From 2021-22 to 2022-23, the number of African American principals increased from 34% to 44%, while the number of building leaders and administrators also increased to 38% and 21%, respectively. AAPS’ African American students make up about 13% of the district’s enrollment.
Among its white employees, AAPS saw the percentage of school principals decrease from 59% to 47% in 2022-23, while the percentage of administrative leaders dropped from 79% to 75%.
The increase in African American principals and administrators comes as a result of identifying individuals who had been teaching in the district who were ready to move into the administrative ranks, Superintendent Jeanice Swift said.
AAPS will start with the recruiting and retaining teachers to try and increase the number of Asian American principals, building leaders and administrators, Swift said.
The report also highlighted the district’s efforts to grow its own teachers through programs that offer its paraprofessionals a path to become certified teachers. Currently, 18 AAPS paraprofessionals are enrolled in the program.
With fewer teachers in the state becoming teachers, it continues to be a challenge to attract from a smaller pool of candidates, Randle said, adding that a consistent influx of unexpected retirements also has led to staffing complications.
“That is a challenge because individuals we’ve noticed are resigning and retiring at unusual times,” Randle said. “Typically individuals that are eligible to retire will go to the end of the school year, but some are choosing to exit (early). Other districts are having similar challenges.”
AAPS Board President Rebecca Lazarus said she thinks there are inherent difficulties in encouraging young people to see the value of joining the education profession.
“Right now, I hate to say it, but parents are telling their kids they need to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a software developer - not a teacher,” Lazarus said. “So, that is an education that we as parents have to instill in our children.”
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