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Examines factors contributing to decline in African-American teachers in southeast Georgia through interviews with 285 African-American elementary school and secondary school teachers and 27 additional African-American subjects, largely college students (16). Reasons only 20 percent would enter teaching if they could start careers again are discussed. (SLD)

A study was conducted to determine the reasons for the decrease in the number of Afro-Americans entering the teaching profession and the factors that influence them to leave it. Respondents were 1,436 teachers from Georgia, 285 of whom were Afro-Americans. Findings revealed that the low salary for teachers and the tracking system of education discourage Afro-Americans from aspiring to become teachers. The tracking practice licenses schools to categorize some students as poor, thereby limiting their access to academic opportunities. On the other hand, discriminatory practices in schools were cited as a leading cause for the shift in career of some Afro-American teachers.