Displacement of Black Teachers in Missouri Post-Brown, 1954-1970

By: Joseph. R. Nichols, Jr., Ph.D. and Alyssa Ignaczak, M.Ed.

This report examines the effect integration had on the Black teacher workforce in Missouri from 1954–1970. We outline how Black teachers were displaced in the seventeen southern and border states as these states moved toward compliance with Brown. We present data on the displacement of Black teachers in these seventeen states—with a focus on Missouri. Our report concludes with an analysis of trends in the student-teacher racial parity index in Missouri and implications for policymakers about how this history connects to the contemporary status of student-teacher demographics in Missouri public schools.  

Key Points:

• Many Black teachers in rural and small-town Missouri faced employment termination or other forms of classroom displacement as a result of integration. 

• The percentage of Black teachers in Missouri public schools decreased by approximately 2.1% between 1957–1958 and 1965–1966.

• The percentage of Black students in Missouri public schools grew by approximately 3% from the 1957–1958 and 1965–1966 academic years. 

• Missouri has faced a growing student-teacher racial parity index gap since 1954. The statewide percentage of Black teachers does not match the percentage of Black students in Missouri public schools.