Fewer male teachers are in K-12 classrooms in Illinois

Story here. Excerpt:

'For two years Chezare Warren taught math at a middle school on Chicago's South Side, weathering the kind of situations that keeps so many men from pursuing teaching careers at elementary and secondary schools.

There were the usual jokes from friends about his low pay and cushy workday. There were the awkward moments with women who sometimes belittled his profession. There was the occasional whisper or suspicious glance from parents who questioned why a young man would choose to spend so much time with children.

Most troubling for Warren -- one of six male teachers on a staff of more than 30 -- was the look in the eyes of many of his young male students each semester who, lacking positive male role models at home, seemed to latch onto him for fatherly guidance.
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Many educators believe the trend has had a profound impact on the way young boys and girls learn. That's particularly true in urban communities where more and more children are growing up without a steady male influence, they say.'