Give Thanks to Our Teachers for Braving the Pandemic!
I am breaking my recent promise not to post articles that were previously published, but this is one of those rare exceptions to the rule, because it would not get the national audience it deserves without reposting it here. This article by Sandra Vohs, president of the Fort Wayne Education Association, appeared originally in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, one of the few newspapers in Indiana and the nation that appreciates our public schools and their teachers.
Vohs writes:
These days, it’s impossible not to hear cries of “get kids back in school” and “we need to reopen schools.” These declarations certainly suggest that schools are closed.
In this era of alternative facts, there is some bizarre belief out there that, all over the nation, school leaders have decided just to skip this year, allowing teachers to take a long, paid vacation. Of course, that would mean students have a year of free time with no lessons to complete, no CONTINUE READING: Give Thanks to Our Teachers for Braving the Pandemic! | Diane Ravitch's blog
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Teachers may feel like they have a partner in the
White House with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden who held an educator's virtual
event as her first event as first lady.
Joined by National Education Association President Becky Pringle and
American Federation of Teachers President, Randi Weingarten, Dr. Biden
praised the response of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling
them how proud she was to be in the profession.
Recognizing that they have gone above and beyond to help guide their
students during this challenging time, the first lady let them know that
she has their backs.
During the event they discussed the funds needed to be able to open
schools safely and contribute to every student's success.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden said, "I've been so inspired by so many of you
who have gone above and beyond to meet your students where they are in
this past year. Teaching late nights because your students don't have
access to computers until maybe, you know, somebody in their family who's
finished using the computer can give it to them. Driving hotspots to
neighborhoods without wifi. Taking tearful calls from parents who felt
like they just could not juggle at all... So on behalf of a grateful
nation, thank you. You have been so strong and now it's time for us to be
strong for you."
Pringle said, "we know that they [the president and first lady] will
partner with us to reclaim public education as a common as the foundation
of this democracy and then transform it into something that was never
designed to be; and that is a racially and socially just and equitable
system that prepares every student, every one to succeed in a diverse and
interdependent world to live into their brilliance."
Weingarten said, "we need help. We need the funding that is part of the
rescue act that now President Biden announced last week, and that we need
Congress to do."
