A school district in Tucson, Arizona has pledged $550,000 towards recruiting teachers from minority backgrounds, it has been reported.

The cash injection has been administered in an attempt to help introduce diversity among teachers in the area and to provide encouragement to children from similar backgrounds, reported azcentral.com.

According to a 2005 census of the area, 74 per cent of teachers working that year were of white ethnic origin.

Of the 1,009 high school employed throughout 2005, five hailed from an American Indian background, while there were just two middle school teachers of Asian minority.

Head of the district's minority teacher recruitment project Richard Foster said he plans to visit other cities to encourage teachers from minority groups to work in Tucson.

According to visittucson.org, the city is Arizona's second largest, boasts "cactus forests, rolling hills and awe-inspiring mountains" and has a population of 100,000.