Report: Missouri lost thousands of Black teachers after integration, and the issue persists

The number of African American teachers in Missouri decreased after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. The problem persists more than a half-century later, according to a recent report by St. Louis University researchers.

In “The Displacement of Black Teachers in Missouri Post-Brown, 1954-1970,” the researchers write that over 2,230 Black educators were removed from classrooms across the state during integration as Missouri moved to be in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling . The July report also outlined the displacement of Black teachers in 16 other Southern and border states during the desegregation of schools.

Since 1954, there hasn't been parity between Black students and teachers, and the gap continues to widen, said Joseph