Being a Teacher in America

 It is already a known fact that teachers do not get paid enough, and that many schools do not have enough funding to supply their classrooms. It is already a known fact that schools are places where students can get some mental health services, and places where students can receive free breakfast, lunch, and packs of non-perishables to take home on weekends. It is already a known fact that teachers are trained and prepared to protect students and possibly take a bullet for them if there is ever an active shooter in their school. It is already a fact that schools are used as band-aids to many of our biggest societal problems. And in all of these instances, Teachers are being told they are appreciated. We have a week dedicated to teacher appreciation every year. Many parents and families give us cards and gifts for the holidays. We are often told, "thank you for all that you do" or we get hugs and praise, thoughts and prayers. But, none of that is enough! 

Things have changed drastically over this past year. Teachers were already fed-up with being the band-aids to society's biggest problems, but we often dealt with it because we are in it for the kids. We do it, we suffer, we endure every day all for our students. But, now we are in a global pandemic. 

During this pandemic we are required to continue to work in the conditions we have before-- little pay and resources with expectations far beyond our job description-- and on top of that, we are now asked to completely reinvent the way that we teach and interact with students AND we are asked to put our health, safety, and lives at risk to do it all. 

It should NOT have to be like this. Things need to change at a structural, systemic level. Teachers need better pay, more resources, respect, and teachers NEED to be listened to and taken seriously. We all are required to have at least a bachelor's degree, and many of us have masters and doctoral level credentials. We are professionals, yet we are not treated as such. 

We say we want more money, and people just laugh at us and tell us that we get three months of the year off, so why should we be paid more. 

We say we need more funding and resources, and they just brush us off and tell us that our students need to score higher on standardized tests for that to happen. 

We say we want mental health services, and they tell us that we should know our students better than anyone else and we should be able to handle it within our classrooms. 

We say we want to stay home and distance learn during a global pandemic until it is safe to come back, and they ignore us, tell us we are being too whiny, and tell us we are essential workers so we should have been teaching in person this whole time anyways. 

Teachers are NOT martyrs. Teachers are NOT band-aids. Teachers are NOT "superheroes." 

We are just human beings, barely hanging on, asking for help, and not getting any.