Getting Better Minority Teachers

Ed Week has an article here describing the difficulty of getting highly qualified minority candidates for teaching positions.  The solution proposed is to raise the standards for teachers.

You want better teachers of all colors?  Raising standards won’t do it.  Higher pay, better teaching conditions, a place at the table when policy decisions are made and more respect will give us better teachers. 

Why would a talented minority candidate—who has multiple job offers—choose teaching now when the profession has stagnant, low pay, and has become a whipping boy for politicians?  Oh, and did I mention the effort to turn our classrooms into test prep centers with curriculum developed by big business? 

It’s hard for me to image how we expect to get any top students, of any color, choosing teaching as a career now.