The Edmonds School District -- and districts across the state -- are trying to hire more teachers of color.
Gillian Lim and J.R. Mitchell are an anomaly in the Edmonds School District. They are part of 9 percent of teachers in the district who are minorities -- and they just happen to teach the same grade at the same school in adjoining classrooms.
According to the office of the superintendent, last year 47 percent of students in Washington state were minorities – nearly half.
But for teachers across the state, only 12 percent are teachers of color.
That's why Michael Cook, a physical education teacher in the Edmonds School District, and colleague Kanoe Vierra hosted the inaugural statewide "teachers of color" conference last year.
It was so successful that they held two this year.
There are some solutions. Edmonds has a scholarship program for para-educators of color who want to get a teaching degree.
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