Teachers from NYC Absent Teacher Reserve were disproportionately placed in schools that serve Black and low-income students

Dec 7, 2017 | Statements

The release of this limited information about placement of teachers from the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) reveals that the 41 ATR teachers who have been placed since October 15 are disproportionately working in:

  • schools that serve Black students (44% average enrollment in the 39 schools, compared to 26% enrollment city-wide)
  • schools that serve low-income students (84% average enrollment in the 39 schools, compared to 75% enrollment city-wide)
  • schools with significant academic needs: these schools have grades 3-8 average proficiency of 33% in English language arts (ELA) and 27% in math, and an average high school graduation rate of 71%.

“This raises major equity concerns,” said Ian Rosenblum, Executive Director of The Education Trust–New York“In addition, beyond this initial release of data, parents and the public still lack basic information about the teachers’ effectiveness, length of time in the ATR, and area of certification, as well as any information about the 205 ‘provisionally hired’ teachers. We renew our call for full and immediate transparency and for policies that ensure that historically under-served students have access to the strongest educators.”

“The Department of Education took a good first step towards ensuring that there is more transparency in the forced placement of teachers from the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool by releasing this information,” said Evan Stone, Co-CEO and Founder of Educators for Excellence. “The additional transparency highlights our concerns that teachers from the ATR pool are being disproportionately placed in high-need schools serving low-income and minority students. We think the Department has a responsibility to release information about the hiring process that provisionally hired teachers went through, where they have been hired, and the makeup of that group of teachers.”