A new study has claimed that hiring more minority teachers in schools gives a fairer perception of discipline.
According to University of Kansas researchers, black students in schools with more black teachers have more positive attitudes and higher perceptions of fairness in school discipline.
Author Don Haider-Markel said their findings provided empirical support for the arguments of some political theorists that the legitimacy of public institutions was enhanced when those institutions were staffed by people who look like the population more generally.
Haider-Markel said that schools teach young people about democracy and being a citizen directly, but schools, through their treatment of students, also teach students how the government views them as citizens, and added that students who do not perceive fair treatment might take away the message that the government will not be fair or treat everyone equally.
He further said that such a message might lay the foundation for making a young person less likely to participate in civil society through voting, attending public meetings or other means.
The researchers concluded that the study supported a recommendation that schools with few or no minority teachers could benefit from hiring teachers that more closely match the demographic of their enrollment.
