HBCU Huston-Tillotson Tackles Black Male Teacher Shortage

By Daniel Johnson

In 2024, Huston-Tillotson University’s partnership with Austin Independent School District (ISD) through the African American Male Teacher Initiative had slowed down due to the pandemic. However, this year, the program, which began in 2020 to address the nationwide shortage of Black male teachers, is celebrating the graduation of nine seniors.

According to its website, the program is funded by Apple and is part of the university’s Apple Community Education Initiatives partnership with the technology company.

Per their executive summary of the program, “The university is now setting its goals on growing the number of African-American males. The goal is to certify 25 African-American males as classroom teachers by the year 2025. This project’s goal is to increase the number of African-American male educators in the teaching field. Currently African-American males make up less than 2% of all educators.”

Although its original goal was to certify 100 Black male teachers, 25 of whom were to graduate from their program by 2025, the effects of the pandemic hampered that effort.

However, as Jesse Rivers, a university professor and the leader of the efforts to partner with Austin ISD, told KVUE in 2024, the addition of Black teachers could help Austin’s Black male students in several ways.

“Black male teachers are more apt to be culturally responsive, culturally sensitive to the needs of those young Black men,” Rivers said. “So that reduces a lot of the angst and prejudices that we have.”

Ken Zarifis, the president of Austin ISD’s teacher’s union, agreed with Rivers’ assessment.

“That’s ultimately what we want,” Zarifis told the outlet. “So we have a rich experience in schools, so that every kid going to school has a rich, fulfilling experience where they see themselves, but also others so that they become a fuller person.”

In a 2024 press release announcing that the program would be funded by Apple, Rivers indicated that he believes if there is an issue affecting Black people, then an HBCU should get involved and help figure out how to solve it.“In an effort to alleviate the shortages of African-American male teachers in public classrooms, I wholeheartedly believe that HBCUs must be at the forefront in recruiting and preparing African-American males to teach,” Rivers said. “If it’s a Black problem, why shouldn’t HBCUs be at the forefront of problem-solving?”

He continued, “A popular 21st-century term is innovation, but when someone tries to be innovative, the “system” at times intentionally and unintentionally forces that individual to revert to the status quo or familiar territory. Partnering with private industries to increase the number of Black male teachers is innovative but not unheard of, but more is needed to put a more significant dent in the shortage of African American male teachers.”

In 2021, Dr. Jennifer Miles, who was then the director of the Center for Academic Innovation & Transformation and interim director of the Center for Academic Excellence, also indicated that the program was part of the university’s broader push for racial justice.

“Our pledge towards racial justice by increasing the number of Black males in P-12 education will make a huge impact to student achievement. The African American Male Teacher Initiative, the only program of its kind within all 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), supports the holistic development of future Black male teachers,” Miles said.

She added, “From ongoing professional development to hands-on digital training with state-of-the-art devices to learning app development in an effort to advance a 22nd-century approach to learning, HT is dedicated to the success of this program, and we’re proud to partner with Apple to bring this opportunity to our students.”

This year, according to KXAN, the program currently has 16 students enrolled and is looking for more students to join. To be considered for the program, students must maintain a 3.0 GPA and commit to giving 30 hours of community service to the Austin community each semester.

As Kai Turntine, one of the students in this year’s cohort who wants to become a school superintendent, told the outlet, one of his primary motivations is to assure young Black kids that there are more paths to success than the streets or sports.

“My goal is to give kids inspiration. Some kids where I am from think sports is everything and I just want to tell people football will end, basketball will end, whatever sport you are playing will end and then you don’t give up on life,” Turntine said. “You don’t quit, you don’t say, Oh, I didn’t make it in this. Some people where I am from go to the streets or somewhere else.”