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[adapted from a letter to Rowland Fellows written by RF Executive Director, Michael Martin, originally sent on September 6, 2024]
Political leaders are talking about teachers a lot these days. To be clear, I don’t just mean debates about education policy, but talking about teachers as real-life people who play a key role in our democracy.
“Never underestimate a public school teacher. Never,” Governor Tim Walz said at the Democratic National Convention (DNC). He was talking about himself, of course, but it’s still inspiring to think that a social studies teacher might be our next Vice President! It was also pretty cool when, the night before, the Vermont DNC delegation yelled out, over the strains of a Noah Kahan tune, “Vermont knows the value of public education! We even have a teacher as our congresswoman,” to whoops for Representative Becca Balint.
…the place where people still gather together, talk about ideas, disagree with one another, is actually the K-12 classroom.
And imagine my excitement when I heard Dr. Jill Lepore talking about teachers recently on John Stewart’s podcast. In addition to being a Harvard History Professor and perhaps one of our greatest living essayists, Dr. Lepore will be the keynote speaker at the 13th Annual Rowland Conference this October at UVM. She said to John Stewart,
“…the place where people still gather together, talk about ideas, disagree with one another, is actually the K-12 classroom. And if Walz could usher in an era of young people committed to public school teaching — which is the most important job in this country or any other — this would really change how people are trained up in the art of being a democratic citizen.”
I actually wondered if Dr. Lepore was thinking about her upcoming Rowland Conference keynote address. After all, this year’s conference is about cultivating the habits of democratic culture in school, and how we need skillful teachers to lead challenging conversations in a pluralistic society.
Hearing powerful people talk about the power of teachers makes me hopeful. I’m glad to hear so many of our leaders recognize that the future of our country depends on teachers. Michelle Obama, whose DNC speech was the best of the convention, talked about teachers when she described how the American Dream passes from one generation to the next, saying,
So, my mother volunteered at the local school. She always looked out for the other kids on the block. She was glad to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation. The belief that if you do unto others, if you love thy neighbor, if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off. If not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren.
You see, those values have been passed on through family farms and factory towns, through tree-lined streets and crowded tenements, through prayer groups and National Guard units and social-studies classrooms. Those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath.
This incredibly moving passage reminds us of how much our society depends on the hard work of teachers in schools, and that it’s oftentimes our teachers — dedicated people doing hard work in classrooms with children — who have the power to transmit our values to the next generation, both by word and example.
Senator Bernie Sanders said recently that “we need to strengthen public education” and “raise teachers salaries”. Former President Trump has said that he will abolish the U.S. Department of Education. Trump also wants to make it easier to fire teachers and radically expand school vouchers and privatization under a new “Parents Bill of Rights,” because in his words, “We can’t have pink-haired communists teaching our kids”.
Let’s face it: if teachers weren’t so crucially important to our country, they wouldn’t be a topic of debate.
No matter your political beliefs, the way people are talking about teachers this election season points to something that many of us have known all along: teachers are powerful. In a tricky moment when teachers don’t especially feel powerful, it’s worth taking a beat to notice that leaders across the political spectrum and at every level of government are fighting tooth and nail over our schools and teachers. Let’s face it: if teachers weren’t so crucially important to our country, they wouldn’t be a topic of debate.
When I think of the power teachers think they have most days, as opposed to the power they actually have in their work with young people, it reminds me of that famous Alice Walker quote, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
I’m awfully tired of this neverending election season, but I’m glad to see teachers at the heart of the big debates about our country’s future. We all know that teaching is a tough job that rarely gets the respect it deserves, so I’m happy to notice this recent shift in the discourse. Honestly, it’s about time teachers were recognized as important people doing critical work everyday, the hard work of showing up for young people and preparing the next generation to be contributing members of a democratic society.