That may be true, but studies have shown that the race of educators does make a difference to minority students and their schools.

Several studies have demonstrated pronounced benefits for black children with same-race teachers, ranging from better math performance to higher graduation rates. And although the body of research on the effects of same-race principals is still relatively small, it does point to student benefits. For example, a national study published in the March 2017 Elementary School Journal found that black students are more likely to be recommended for gifted programs in schools that have a black principal. (That’s important because black students have been underrepresented in gifted programs for decades.) And numerous studies point to the benefits of diverse organizational leadership, including one by the consulting firm McKinsey showing that companies with diverse boards performed better than those with mostly white men on their boards.

Yet in 2012 only about 10 percent of public-school principals were black while 16 percent of public-school students were black, according to a 2016 U.S. Department of Education report on diversity among educators. The same report showed that only 7 percent of principals were Hispanic compared to 24 percent of public-school students.

“We have got to be much more deliberate and intentional about building a diverse pipeline across the educational spectrum,” said Jean Desravines, the CEO of New Leaders, which seeks to improve both the quality and the diversity of urban school leadership.

New Leaders, with its Aspiring Principals program in six cities and the San Francisco Bay Area, is not the only nonprofit that has focused on this challenge, but its success has been notable. The program’s network of educators and district leaders recommend teachers who might be interested in pursuing school leadership via the summer training, monthly classes, paid principal apprenticeships, and two additional years of professional support that New Leaders offers. Since its inception in 2001, New Leaders reports that 1,083 principals have successfully completed the program, 64 percent of whom are people of color—more than triple the national average.

Desravines has a one-word answer to explain New Leaders’ success: mindset. Echoing King-Morris, he said the belief that all children can learn is the primary prerequisite for becoming a strong school leader. But race or ethnicity can help shape that belief, he added.

“We are able to identify non-minority candidates who absolutely, absolutely embody everything” needed to be an excellent principal, Desravines said. “That said, leaders who come from the same communities and who share the background of our students tend to be particularly steadfast in believing that [the students] can achieve at a high level.”