Schools

Hispanic, Black Women Underrepresented in Woodridge District 68 Teaching Staff

A recent district audit compared the district's teaching staff with the national labor market.

Hispanic and black women are underrepresented in the teaching staff of , according to a district audit that compared the district's teaching staff with national demographics for similarly situated employees. 

Hispanic and black women each made up 2.8 percent of the district's workforce as of Oct. 1, 2011. Nationally, Hispanic women made up 7 percent of the workforce and black women made up 8.8 percent of the workforce on that date.  

Hispanic students make up 27.9 percent of District 68's student population. Black students make up 13.3 percent of the district's student population, according to the 2011 Illinois District Report Card

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The audit was conducted by District 68 Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Patrick Broncato.

Teaching demographics 

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Woodridge District 68's 218 teaching positions compared with 3,942 positions.

Black Hispanic White National District National District National District Men 1.10% 0.90% 1% 1.40% 11.80% 9.20% Women 8.80% 2.80% 7.20% 2.80% 68.30% 83% Totals 9.90% 3.70% 8.20% 4.20% 80.10% 92.20%

Which demographics were under- or overrepresented in the district depended on how closely the district's numbers matched the national average. Each demographic had a parity index, which needed to be between 80 percent or 120 percent of the national average. 

If the national work force were 10 percent Hispanic, the district would need to have between 8 and 12 percent Hispanic to be within the index. Both Hispanic and black women fell outside of this index. White women are slightly overrepresented in the district.

The district is actually overrepresented in Hispanic male teachers and slightly underrepresented in white male teachers. The district is on par with the national average for black male teachers. 

Broncato said recruiting black and Hispanic teachers were areas the district could work on. The district is currently hiring for several bilingual positions, which provides the opportunity for adding more Hispanic teachers to the district. District administrators and board members emphasized the importance to employ quality candidates where pursuing a diverse staff. 

Broncato said minorities were obviously underrepresented in the district's administrative staff, as white men and women hold all 16 positions. 

"One of the recommendations (from the audit) is that if we have the opportunity in the future, to find minority representation in the administrator ranks," Broncato said. "It's something we can focus on."

Administrative demographics

Woodridge District 68's 16 positions compared with the national pool of 934 positions. 

Black Hispanic White National District National District National District Men 3.60% 0% 2.60% 0% 27.30% 56% Women 9% 0% 4% 0% 51.30% 44% Totals 12.60% 0% 6.60% 0% 79.60% 100%

District student demographics (from the 2011 Illinois Student Report Card

White 45.50% Black 13.30% Hispanic 27.90% Asian 8% American Indian 0% Multiracial 5.20%

The audit fulfilled an objective in the . That objective fell under the personnel goal of "District 68 will continue to maintain our rigorous standard of excellence by recruiting, employing and supporting high-quality staff."

Other personnel objectives include: 

  1. Annually, the personnel department will increase professional development opportunities to create a culturally sensitive staff.
  2. Annually, the personnel department will recruit high-quality minority, bilingual and male candidates.


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