More Than A Third of Georgia Students Do Not Attend A School With A Leader Of Color

Only 44% of principals and assistant principals in Georgia identify as people of color

‍FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE‍

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Contact: Joe Weedon, jweedon@edtrust.org  202-277-9410

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, The Education Trust and New Leaders released a new report, Increasing School Leader Diversity in Georgia, finding that more than a third of all Georgia students —and the majority of White students — do not attend schools with even one school leader of color. Nationally, only 22% of principals are people of color compared with 54% of students.  

“Diverse school leaders are crucial to building a positive learning environment for all students as well as recruiting, retaining, and developing a strong, diverse teacher workforce,” said Eric Duncan, Ed Trust’s assistant director of P-12 policy. “This report provides information for Georgia to invest and build a school leader workforce that is representative of the students in Georgia schools.”

“To build more equitable schools, we must acknowledge that principals of color are key to the retention of teachers of color,” said Jean Desravines, CEO of New Leaders. “Georgia is only one example of a state that primarily serves students of color and needs a strong diverse leadership pipeline. We must expand efforts to recruit and retain teachers of color, and in parallel create more leadership development opportunities for teachers to move into the principal role.”

Key findings of the report include:  

• Many Georgia students do not attend schools with a single school leader of color. Overall, 34% of all students, 21% of students of color, 54% of White students, 14% of Black students, and 30% of Latino students attended a school with no school leaders of color during the most recent school year.
• Students of color lack equitable access to school leaders with diverse backgrounds in Georgia. Overall, 44% of all principals and assistant principals in Georgia identify as people of color, compared with 59% of students.  

“School leaders matter. And access to same-race school leaders positively shapes education experiences for students of color, including higher math achievement and greater representation in gifted programs,” said Denise Forte, CEO of The Education Trust.

The data reflects the number of school leaders and students at each K-12 public school, disaggregated by race and ethnicity, for school years 2019-2020 and 2021-2022. For this study, Ed Trust defined “school leaders” as principals or assistant principals, and “people of color” as those who identify as Black, Latino, multiracial, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

Increasing School Leader Diversity in Georgia is available here: https://edtrust.org/resource/increasing-school-leader-diversity-in-georgia/

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About The Education Trust

The Education Trust is committed to advancing policies and practices to dismantle the racial and economic barriers embedded in the American education system. Through our research and advocacy, Ed Trust improves equity in education from preschool through college, engages diverse communities dedicated to education equity and justice and increases political and public will to build an education system where students will thrive. Learn more at edtrust.org

About New Leaders

‍New Leaders builds the capacity of equity-minded school leaders who are committed to the success of every child. Our leaders remove barriers to success for underestimated and underserved students, supporting students in fully realizing their futures as the next generation of great thinkers, innovators, and leaders for our society. In 20 years, we have trained more than 8,000 equity-focused leaders—sixty percent of whom identify as leaders of color. Our leaders impact more than 2 million students in our K-12 school system annually and serve as powerful and positive forces for change in their communities. Learn more at newleaders.org