I have a fear for the fall. I want to be back in my classroom with my students welcoming them to the new year. We all know these last few weeks have been hard - hard on our parents, our kids, our teachers, our nurses and doctors, our essential workers, our small business owners, etc. Hard on everyone. No one has not been impacted by the shut-downs and distancing and rules and regulations. We've also seen a lot of heartwarming and hilarious messages about the importance of teachers.
And there lies my fear.
My fear is the human ability to forget.
We will go through 3 months of summer with rules being loosened up a bit (maybe).
New rules will be made.
New blended curriculum will be developed.
New funding structures to pay for the estimated $41 billion need will be written.
And we will be forgotten. If history tells us anything, it's that teacher input will be minimal at best.
For all the celebrity calls for "Teachers should make a billion dollars" (Thanks Jimmy Fallon and Shonda Rhimes) and every other parent out there clamoring for pay raises and expressing empathy for teachers, it will fade after the summer season.
The crisp fall air will welcome a new school year, and after doing it for 2-3 months a summer ago, online learning could be seen as the new "norm" which means the assumption will be teachers can do it.
And we will. Because it IS what we do. We teach. We don't do it for the money or for the accolades or to be celebrated. We do it because we want to play our small part in making the world better by teaching future citizens. It is a calling, a vocation for many of us.
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't have a say.
And we shouldn't be forgotten.
We don't need a raise of a billion dollars (though the bottomless wine would be sweet!). What we need is this:
1. Smaller class sizes or more qualified aides [if we ever needed to focus on essential skills and closing gaps one-on-one with our students, next school year will be it.]
2. More school counselors and school psychologists [our students have been traumatized; these individuals will be ESSENTIAL next year].
3. Better school funding structures [this isn't about giving teachers raises; this is about creating sustainable funding structures within our state governments so the education systems can grow without the restraints of fluctuating budgets and political volleyball].
4. Investments in technology and technology systems that WORK, particularly in rural areas [remote learning has only magnified the massive gaps in access to basic services like internet and cell phone service].
5. Investments in education and food programs for families [food poverty and gaps in sustenance and accessibility is real and - again - magnified by the closing of our schools; in addition, parents are not always equipped to address the basic needs of their children so parenting classes and support groups are essential].
Not one of these five things is beyond reach. They are not impossible. But the process gets interrupted by personal agendas and political games.
This fall, please don't forget the teachers. Remember how frustrating it was to sit with your child who was truly struggling because they were confused or felt isolated or were missing the routine of school. Remember how frustrated you were when you didn't understand what the math problems were asking and therefore had no idea how to help your child. Remember how unnerving it was to hear that reports to CPS went drastically down the day the schools closed and what that meant for the kids who no longer had others looking out for them. Remember how truly depressing it was to hear that proms and concerts and sport seasons and graduations were canceled - along with all the memories that accompany that.
Remember how your child's teacher read to them and tutored them and checked in with them (and you) and participated in a parade and developed creative assignments that were outside the box to help teach essential skills. Remember how they turned their in-person classrooms around in (sometimes) less than 48 hours to full on remote learning classrooms with no training or clue it was going to occur.
This summer and fall, when decisions are being made and input is being sought from the community, remember the true, essential needs of our schools and our teachers for our students.
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