This Data Point examines the race and ethnicity of public school teachers in the United States. It uses data from the public school teacher data file of the 2017–18 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), which is a nationally representative sample survey of public and private K–12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. State representative information is also available for public schools, principals, and teachers.

In the 2017–18 school year, 79 percent of public school teachers were White and non-Hispanic (FIGURE 1). About 9 percent of teachers were Hispanic (of any race), and 7 percent were Black and non-Hispanic. Two percent of teachers identified as Asian and non-Hispanic, 2 percent as Two or more races and non-Hispanic, and less than 1 percent as Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic. Note that in the rest of this report, “non-Hispanic” is not repeated after each racial category in order to improve readability.

Teachers of a given race/ethnicity were more often found in schools where their race/ethnicity matched a majority of the student body.

FIGURE 1. Percentage distribution of teachers by race/ethnicity: 2017–2018

¹ Hispanic includes Latino.
NOTE: Teachers include both full-time and part-time teachers. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Teacher Data File,” 2017–18.

• Agreement between the race and ethnicity of teachers and the majority race of the student population of schools was most pronounced for White teachers. In schools where the majority of students were White, over 90 percent of teachers were White (FIGURE 2).
• At schools in which a majority of students were Black, about one-third (36 percent) of teachers were Black. This was higher than the percentage of Black teachers at schools with other student body racial and ethnic compositions.
• Similarly, at schools in which a majority of students were Hispanic, 33 percent of teachers were also Hispanic. This was higher than the percentage of Hispanic teachers at other types of schools.
• At schools in which a majority of students were American Indian/Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 29 percent of teachers were American Indian/Alaska Native and 19 percent were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander,respectively. These teachers worked in schools in which a majority of students shared their race at a higher rate than other types of schools.
• At schools in which most students were Asian, 27 percent of teachers were Asian. This was higher than the percentage of Asian teachers at schools with student bodies in which most students were White, Black, or Hispanic.

FIGURE 2. Percentage distribution of teachers, by race/ethnicity and the race/ethnicity of students at their school: 2017–18

# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 percent and 50 percent (i.e., the standard error is at least 30 percent and less than 50 percent of the estimate).
‡ Reporting standards not met. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 50 percent or greater (i.e., the standard error is 50 percent or more of the estimate).
¹ Hispanic includes Latino.
NOTE: Teachers include both full-time and part-time teachers. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and because some data are not shown. There were no schools in which students who were Two or more races were a majority of the student body. To see data on schools in which no single race/ethnicity was more than 50 percent of the student body and schools for which data on student body racial and ethnic characteristics were not available, go to https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020103.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Teacher Data File,” 2017–18.

At the same time, in schools where the majority of students were not White, the majority of teachers tended to be White.

• The majority of teachers were White in schools where a majority of students were Hispanic(54 percent), Black (54 percent),Asian (60 percent), or American Indian/Alaska Native (61 percent).That is, a larger percentage of teachers were White than of the same race/ethnicity as the majority of students.
• Schools in which a majority of students were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander were an exception to this trend. At those schools,26 percent of teachers were White,26 percent were Asian, 19 percent were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 20 percent were of Two or more races, non-Hispanic.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Point presents information on education topics of current interest. It was authored by Maura Spiegelman of NCES. Estimates based on samples are subject to sampling variability, and apparent differences may not be statistically significant. All stated differences are statistically significant at the .05 level, with no adjustments for multiple comparisons. In the design, conduct, and data processing of NCES surveys, efforts are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error.