For our teachers
For our teachers, and our kids, we continue the work of making love and justice visible and accessible to all.
As many of our public school systems go back in session this week, I started thinking about what we ask of our K-12 teachers.
And the list is long.
We ask our teachers to be experts in whatever content they cover; to teach behavior and interpersonal skills; to assess and evaluate the learning of their students and adjust all their approaches and tactics accordingly. We ask them to comply with state standards for curriculum and instruction. We ask them to lift student achievement year after year.
We want them to help our kids deal with the demands of a complex society, to know the kids in their classes well enough to know what social supports they might need. Teachers should be role models, mentors, advisors, coaches.
In the last few years, we’ve put teachers in the center of the ginned-up culture wars that represent a huge distraction from the real work of building inclusive communities. Teachers are being told what they can and cannot say, which kids and families they can vocally support, which books they can put in their libraries. If they step out of line, they can be insulted, demonized, even threatened. Teachers should obey “don’t say gay” laws but should not enforce public health mask mandates, for example. Parents and community members can turn on them with a viciousness that is both surprising and troubling.
Perhaps most stressful of all, we ask our teachers to be ready to protect the lives of our children, putting them in the void left by our failure to deal with the root causes of gun violence and to implement common sense gun laws. Teachers are asked to police lockdown protocols and use their own bodies to shield our kids, if necessary. In many areas, teachers are being asked to carry firearms themselves.
With all these pressures, all these impossible expectations, combined with slashed public school budgets, it’s no wonder so many skilled and talented teachers are leaving our K-12 schools.
Even so, young people are still inspired to become teachers, bringing new energy, ideas, and solutions. Veteran teachers hold onto their commitment to supporting our young folk, making spaces where our kids feel safe and valued. Our public schools are often still the glue that keep our communities connected, engaged, optimistic.
As we wish our kids a happy new school year, let’s be sure to thank their teachers the best way we can: by supporting our public school funding, advocating for reductions in gun violence, refocusing our energies from culture wars to working for inclusive, strong, healthy communities.
For our teachers, and our kids, we continue the work of making love and justice visible and accessible to all.
Be safe and well.