90% Of Public Teachers Are White

Nearly 90 percent of public school teachers are white, a private education research group said today.

Even in inner cities, 73 percent of teachers identify themselves as white, the National Center for Education Information said in a report profiling public school teachers.

The report also found that white teachers are paid about $36,900 a year, while non-white teachers make about $26,000, the study said.

But the report’s author, researcher C. Emily Feistritzer, noted that white teachers tend to have more experience.

White teachers average about 17 years of experience, compared with about 12 years for non-white teachers, the report said.

The report did show some efforts to hire more non-white teachers in rural and suburban areas. Non-white teachers have increased in the suburbs from 6 percent in 1990 to 13 percent in 1996, and in small towns from 4 percent to 9 percent.