Many schools across the United States are grappling with ways to close the achievement gap between white students and students of color. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on those efforts in Minnesota, which has some of the worst disparities. This report is part of our ongoing "Race Matters" coverage, and the "Agents for Change" series.
Thetis White is a 5th grade teacher at Monroe Elementary School in the Anoka-Hennepin School in Brooklyn Park and his students surprised him with a massive check both in size and value as part of Teacher Appreciation Week. The total of the check was for $50,000!
White was working for UPS and also was a football coach for many years when he decided to take his career in another direction to help kids in his community and became a teacher. The money was donated from General Mills Box Tops For Education and Black Men Teach. White s reaction was that this was an awesome gift and now he has less to worry about moving forward since he can use this money to pay off his student loans.
Box Tops for Education Partners With Black Men Teach
By Hanna Johnson
Black male teachers have an immense positive impact for all students in the classroom, yet they are significantly underrepresented, according to research from the Institute of Labor Economics.
Only 2% of teachers in the U.S. are Black males. In Minnesota, the gap widens to just 0.5%.
To help bridge that gap, Box Tops for Education is partnering with Black Men Teach, a nonprofit organization located in Minneapolis with a mission to recruit, prepare, place, and retain Black male teachers in elementary schools.
Over the next four years, Box Tops will provide $500,000 to fund scholarships, loan forgiveness and programming to help the organization’s mission of increasing the number of Black male teachers in their eight Minneapolis-area partner schools to 20% by 2025.
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