Jackson Public Schools / Jackson Public Schools District Homepage (jpsk12.org)
Jackson Public schools has an extremely diverse student population; however this is not reflected in the racial demographics of staff at JPS.
USNEWS.com (Jackson Public Schools – U.S. News Education (usnews.com)) States, “the student body at the schools served by Jackson Public Schools is 43.6% White, 31.4% Black, 1.7% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander, 7.9% Hispanic/Latino, 0.4% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and 15.1% of students are two or more races.”
However, according to Mischooldata.com (Staffing Count (mischooldata.org)) The staff/teacher demographics present as “90.7% white, 6% African American,1.8% Hispanic, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, and 0.6% representing two or more races.”
This shows a clear difference between student body and staff demographics. This vast difference could easily lead to students feeling underrepresented, and staff not being able to relate to student on a level they may need.
The American Phycological Association (Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Education (apa.org)) suggests that underrepresentation can lead to issues for students like “low test scores, dropouts, and low graduation rates.” and they believe this can be combated by educating staff on how to support students with different racial backgrounds then themselves.
This site also suggests that learning and encouraging “the social, cultural, linguistic, experiential and intellectual assets that students from diverse backgrounds bring with them into classrooms” could help both staff and students feel more comfort and encouragement when combating the racial and ethnic disparencies.
