What the male teacher discussion ignores

Girls, men, schools, women, parents, society also benefit when men are embraced as caring leaders

I am thrilled to see last week’s spicey discussion over the relevance of male teachers — a passion I’m incubating in my city of Richmond, Va.

The debate arose between Jessica Grose, a New York Times columnist, and Richard Reeves, a leading men-and-boys advocate who wrote Of Boys and Men. Their back-and-forth centers on whether male teachers benefit boys — and if we should care.

Both miss the bigger picture: We need more male teachers from early childhood through high school for two reasons:

1. Everyone, including men, benefit when males are embraced and supported in caretaking and leadership of young people.

2. This is because men bring unique qualities to the world — including the classroom. Equality contributes to better outcomes far beyond grades.

• Background: Is the male teacher shortage real?

• Everyone wins with teacher gender equality

• More male teachers = improved U.S. education

• More male teachers = gender equality

• Solutions for increasing male teacher rates

  • Study male educators

  • Rebrand e…