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At the start of Baron R. Davis鈥檚 career in education, he slipped into a role commonly shouldered by Black men in K-12 public schools鈥攖he tough-love administrator. More than that: He was good at it.

鈥淚 became known or celebrated for being this strong disciplinarian, and no nonsense, and people appreciated it,鈥� said Davis, the superintendent of Richland Two School District in suburban Columbia, S.C. He rapidly rose through the ranks, moving from a high school assistant administrator overseeing freshman retention to a high school principal position seven years later.

In 2008, Davis, took a principal position at a predominantly Black and low-income middle school. It was there that the Columbia native began a shift to what he would later call an 鈥淓xodus moment:鈥� Was he imparting discipline to children under his care鈥攐r simply punishing them?

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be that administrator where my job was just to punish kids,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had been rewarded for being hard on Black kids, and I didn鈥檛 accomplish anything by being hard on them.鈥�

And now Davis, who has been superintendent of the one of South Carolina鈥檚 largest and fastest-growing districts since 2017, wants to add more Black men to the classroom who have a similar mindset.

Already a minority within a minority, only about 2 percent of the nation鈥檚 teachers are Black men. Davis has set an explicit goal to hire 100 more men of color in his district by 2024, as well as hold on to the Black men that the district already has on staff. While many districts talk about the importance of creating a diverse teaching staff, Richland Two鈥檚 measurable goals for recruitment and retention stand out.

Currently, 6 percent of Richland Two鈥檚 teachers are Black men. That is better than the national percentage, but Black men are still dramatically underrepresented compared to the district鈥檚 student body, which is about 60 percent Black, 22 percent white and 10 percent Hispanic. (White men make up 12 percent of the district鈥檚 teaching staff.)

If the district is successful both in meeting its hiring targets and in retaining the Black male teachers it already has on staff, Black men would represent about 10 percent of its teachers, based on current employment numbers.

Davis believes that鈥檚 achievable. 鈥淲e got to 6 percent with no focus,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we focus, maybe we can do 12 percent.鈥�

And Davis said he wants more for these hires than to be slotted into the 鈥渆nforcer鈥� role that marked his early career.

鈥淲e鈥檙e interested in people who are interested in being academic giants,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not looking at men who can keep the boys in check.鈥�

Growing up 鈥榚conomically poor, community rich鈥�

Davis said his own upbringing was similar to that of some of his students. He was raised in a public housing unit from age 3 by his grandmother, Alberta Hill. She died in June 2017, just a month before he became superintendent.

In addition to his family鈥檚 love and support, Davis said he was blessed by having 鈥減henomenal educators who pushed me to be more than I thought I was capable of being,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose individuals never gave up.鈥�

One of his high school math teachers was Black, as were a biology teacher and his high school counselors. 鈥淎nd I had access to the ones whose classes I didn鈥檛 take,鈥� Davis said.

Benedict College, a historically Black institution, was near Davis鈥檚 home. He played sports in the college gym, swam in its pool, and absorbed the positive influence of being around high-achieving Black students. The mother of Charles Bolden, a Black astronaut and the first Black administrator of NASA, lived in a house that Davis passed on his way to school.

鈥淪he was a former educator and she raised an astronaut. And she lived in my community,鈥� Davis said.

The public housing complex where he lived faced its share of crime and poverty, Davis said, but it also had a neighborhood grocery store that trusted its customers, like his grandmother, enough to allow them to buy food and pay off the bill on credit. The neighborhood also had adults who watched out for all the community鈥檚 children.

鈥淚 was economically poor and community rich,鈥� he said.

That sense of community is what Davis hopes to create through his recruitment and retention initiative, which the district calls 鈥淧remier 100.鈥� The program is still new; its first major recruiting effort was in November 2019. Nevertheless, the district is close to being on the pace it set for itself, with 24 Black men hired as teachers for the pandemic-disrupted 2020-21 school year.

Richland Two鈥檚 efforts are clearly backed by a growing body of research on the impact of same-race teachers on Black students. They鈥檝e found that for Black students鈥攁nd for Black boys in particular鈥攈aving a Black teacher boosts academic achievement, increases their likelihood of being placed in gifted education, reduces dropout rates, and increases students鈥� likelihood of attending college.

A number of effects could be at play, say those who have studied the topic: Black students may benefit from having Black teachers as positive role models, or those Black teachers may be using more culturally relevant instructional practices. White teachers may also have lower expectations of their Black students, either consciously or unconsciously.

But the number of Black teachers has remained stubbornly low for decades. After the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in Brown v. Board of Education outlawed legal school segregation, white-run school districts chose to dismiss thousands of highly qualified Black teachers and administrators in favor of keeping white staff employed and predominantly white schools open. Those choices decimated a teaching force that has still not recovered.

That narrow pipeline is a major challenge for Richland Two and for the teaching profession as a whole, Davis said. Black boys don鈥檛 often see themselves reflected among teachers, he said, so that may make them less likely to aspire to the position. They also often want jobs that have higher earning potential and that are perceived as more prestigious, he said.

鈥淏ut you can鈥檛 keep saying there鈥檚 not enough Black men in education. What are you going to do about it?鈥� Davis said. 鈥淭here are multiple people doing multiple things. This is something that I decided to do.鈥�

One of Premier 100鈥檚 first recruitment actions was to host a summit that invited prospective teachers to visit the district and its schools, and talk to teachers, students and administrators.

Anfernee Hodges, a high school history teacher in his first year at Richland Two, was part of that recruiting trip. He is a graduate of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., about 70 miles north of Columbia, and Richland Two had not previously been on his radar. The two districts where he had been a student-teacher made it clear they wanted to hire him.

But so did Richland Two. The district offered him a contract during that trip. And, 鈥淚 just felt that this was a district that was not only saying they cared about diversity, but they were really showing it,鈥� Hodges said. 鈥淭he amount of African-American administrators made them stand out a lot.鈥�

And Hodges also felt that the district was responsive to his own professional goals. 鈥淚 wanted to be the history teacher who told everybody鈥檚 history, including stories that maybe kids had not heard before鈥攖o tell them why these things in the past matter today.鈥�

It was also meaningful for Hodges that Davis said he wants to see the recruited teachers in all types of roles. That could mean being department heads or curriculum leaders if they choose, or teaching gifted or Advanced Placement courses. Like Davis did earlier in his career, Hodges had concerns about being pigeonholed.

鈥淚鈥檓 an African-American male teacher. I know from just past experience, when you come in as a Black male, they automatically think 鈥業鈥檓 going to place all of my 鈥榖ehavioral鈥� students with you.鈥� They just automatically assume you鈥檙e the 鈥楤lack whisperer鈥� to these kids.鈥�

So far, Hodges said his classes have been predominantly Black, with students in a range of achievement levels. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something I really, really enjoy,鈥� he said.

A place where Black male teachers can be genuine

In developing its recruitment and retention efforts, Richland Two is also relying on other organizations that are trying to rebuild the pipeline of Black male teachers. One is The Call Me MISTER initiative, founded at Clemson University in South Carolina. MISTER, which stands for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models, recruits Black men to be teachers, particularly in the elementary grades.

In February 2020, not long before the pandemic shut down schools across the nation, 200 program members visited the district for a day of service.
Roy Jones, the executive director of the Call Me MISTER initiative, praised Davis鈥檚 鈥渂old declaration.鈥�

鈥淚 mean it has to start with that, and he鈥檚 fearless about making that a priority,鈥� said Jones , who pointed out that the hiring and retention initiative has been embraced by the district鈥檚 board leadership.

鈥淪uperintendents also have a boss, and not every school board is clearly as accommodating or as embracing of such a goal,鈥� he said.

Call Me MISTER focuses on creating a supportive cohort for the men in its program, and Richland Two is creating the same process, by assigning its new teachers a mentor and having regular meetings where the group can talk about professional goals and challenges. One of the mentors is Brandon Ross, a Richland Two assistant high school principal. Ross easily reeled off the names of Black teachers and administrators who made a difference in his own life, including Akil Ross, his former high school principal and a former national principal of the year. (They are not related.)

鈥淢entoring is something I deeply value and deeply connect with,鈥� Brandon Ross said. In monthly meetings, they talk about everything from how to improve their classroom practice to how to be better men, husbands, and fathers. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to bond these educators to our practice.鈥�

One of Davis鈥檚 goals, he acknowledged, is more abstract than just increasing the sheer number of minority educators in the district. He鈥檚 also hoping to add teachers who feel comfortable being themselves in the classroom while also providing strong instruction.

鈥淚 want all teachers, including teachers of color, to be authentically themselves in the classroom. I believe that many of them think they have to leave who they really are outside of the classroom. They leave out certain things that would accentuate the educational experience that they deliver for their students,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 want to create a place where they can be genuine,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淥therwise, I don鈥檛 think they can be at their best.鈥�