Statements
Mission
TECA's mission is to provide high-quality programming and networking opportunities that create a safe space for educators of color across Tennessee. Leveraging the experiences of our cohorts, TECA empowers educators to become strong advocates for education equity, focusing on leadership development, retainment, and storytelling of educators of color.
Background
During the Fall of 2016, Diarese George, a former classroom teacher in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, formed the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance (TECA) to provide a platform to amplify the voice and presence of educators of color. Diarese saw a lack of people of color involved in education policy at all levels, as well as a lack of convening space and resources in Tennessee for the recruitment and retention of educators of color. Diarese engaged colleagues from across Tennessee to form a Steering Committee that discussed the landscape of what's trending in teacher diversity and began to develop an identity of the unique strengths such an organization could bring to the table.TECA submitted its 501(c)3 paperwork in early fall of 2017 to formalize its status as a new non-profit in Tennessee and has since been approved by the federal government. Around the same time, TECA was selected by Conexion Americas as a sub-grantee for its educational equity grants. These grants are designed to advance the capacity of Conexion America's partner organizations across Tennessee to become leading voices in education advocacy efforts, especially on behalf of communities and students of color. Since then, TECA has formed a full Board of Directors, intentionally targeting a diverse community of educators coming to the table with experience at a variety of levels of the education system. We aim to provide mentorship, fellowship, and leadership for educators of color in Middle Tennessee in our first two years, and with a five-year plan to expand offerings across the state.
Impact
The Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance (TECA),is an organization focused on developing, supporting, and connecting educators of color with decision-making power who shape, create, and influence policy. Recruiting, retaining, and providing mentorship and leadership pathways for educators of color are by products of this work. More recently, TECA was instrumental in advocating for the unanimous adoption of Tennessee's statewide Educator Diversity policy which requires each district to set recruitment and retention goals for educators of color in relation to the students of color they serve. Since TECA's inception, it has supported over 2000 educators across the state with professional development, advocacy training, policy engagement, and leadership development.
Needs
As our organization continues to grow we have identified needs that would be critical to our ability to continue to support a more diverse and inclusive educator population in Tennessee. Our biggest need is to expand our team. We currently have 4 full-time employees and three contractors. We would love to hire a Deputy Director to report directly to the Executive Director, and a Development Officer to support grant writing and fundraising efforts.
CEO Statement
The lack of diversity in Tennessee's educator workforce is a detriment to all students, particularly students of color, who benefit academically and psychologically from having same-race teachers. With a state government that is committed to making the pathway to becoming a teacher free of cost, we must attract and retain top talent from diverse backgrounds. The Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance (TECA) envisions a future where the diversity of Tennessee educators reflects the diversity of students across the state. Our mission is to provide high-quality programming and networking opportunities to support and retain educators of color across the state of Tennessee.
Below are some of the reasons why retaining teachers of color is so important based on data from the Tennessee Department of Education Teacher Retention Report :
1. The financial cost of replacing a teacher has been estimated to be as high as $20,000 for urban districts, putting extra strain on districts with limited resources that must absorb the cost of teacher attrition. We know that educators of color have the highest turnover rate of all demographics.
2. Data suggest that leadership opportunities help to retain educators once they hit the five-year mark. We know that educators of color are not equitably represented in school leadership.
3. Highly-effective black teachers are retained at lower rates than their white counterparts. We know how important it is for educators of color to remain engaged in this work.
Our organization, TECA, has experienced significant growth this year thanks to our partners, funders, and educators in our network. We have doubled our team, scaled our existing programming across the state, and launched new partnerships and a new program called the Advocacy Academy. Educators of color need to be advocates in the communities they serve, resisting harmful policies and legislation that make it hard to teach and serve all students well. We believe that the people closest to the problem should be at the forefront of developing solutions, and we're committed to listening and learning from those who have lived experience and institutional knowledge.
Your support allows us to continue to serve educators of color across the state so that they may grow and thrive in this profession. We are grateful to continue to do this heart work.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Parent & Teacher Groups |
| Secondary Category: | Education - Alliances & Advocacy |
| Tertiary Category: | Education - Single Organization Support |
Areas Served
Our organization provides services statewide. However, we have been concentrating our efforts throughout middle Tennessee, particularly in Davidson County. Most of our physical activities, outside of the statewide focus groups with teachers of color we hosted in Knoxville, Memphis, and Chattanooga, have been in Nashville (we conducted focus groups there too). Nashville has served as the central location for our annual conference, policy report release event, and networking opportunities.
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| Statewide |
