Friend - Teacher Appreciation Week wrapped up a few weeks ago — and as your friendly neighborhood progressive mom, I’ve got some lingering thoughts. (You knew I would..)
Like many of you, I packed the snacks, wrote the notes, sent the gift cards, and did my best to make the week feel special. And of course, teachers deserve love. They spend 180+ days a year with our tiny gremlins, guiding them, comforting them, and somehow still managing to teach them. Teachers are superheroes. Period. But let’s be honest — they deserve way more than a week of well-meaning tokens prompted by PTO calendars. |
Teacher Appreciation Week often feels like one big corporate pizza party — a nice gesture masking deep, systemic neglect. Society loves to praise teachers for “doing it out of love,” but that’s just another way of normalizing unpaid and undervalued labor. And it’s not just in schools — this is the story for women and women of color across industries. We’ve got to move beyond gratitude and start demanding justice. So here’s our post-Teacher Appreciation Week homework:
📢 Advocate for increased education funding
📢 Support unionized teachers and their demands
📢 Vote in school board elections like your kids' future depends on it (because it does)
📢 Reject the idea that love and sacrifice should replace actual compensation
Let’s truly honor our teachers — not with more mugs, but with policy and paychecks. In solidarity, with my kids’ art projects taped EVERYWHERE,
Edil, your friendly neighborhood progressive mom 🍎✊ |
