According to 2015 data released by CPS, which got the data from the private company that conducted the screenings, 74 percent of the 2,417 white applicants advanced to the pool of potential hires. Of the 430 Latino candidates, 58 percent made it. And of the 729 black candidates, just 45 percent made it.
CPS officials didn’t have an explanation for the disparity.
“Obviously, when we saw the data it was troubling, which is why we sought to reverse that policy swiftly,” Chief of Education Janice Jackson said.
But the district could still be in trouble with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for using the screening process, and the numbers call into question if the decline in black teachers is because of the lack of applicants or because of the process.
In 2014-2015, the most recent data available, 22.3 percent of the CPS teaching staff was black, 20 percent were Latino and half were white. Meanwhile, 39.3 percent of students were black, 45.6 were Latino and 9.4 percent were white.
As recently as a decade ago, about 40 percent of CPS teachers were black.
Studies have increasingly shown it is important for black students to have black teachers, who tend to demand more from black students academically and help them build confidence. Black teachers are also role models for black students. But studies also found it is important for white students to be exposed to a diverse teaching staff.
Over the past two years, the district outsourced the process to a private company and the screening was done via a recorded telephone line. “They use a robot to ask the question” said Michelle Evans, (previously turned down twice for a teaching position). “You get two minutes to think about it and then your response can only be recorded once and it had to be three minutes.”
Regardless of why the process was flawed, an attorney with the Equal Employment and Opportunities Commission said CPS is at fault in two respects. Employers are supposed to be monitoring screening tools to make sure they are unbiased and, if they show bias, they should be gotten rid of.
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