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Dear John,
As summer winds down and children head back to school, you’ll probably see dozens of news stories about America’s “teacher shortage.” What’s often missing from these articles is the real reason why good teachers are leaving the profession altogether:
They are being treated like dirt.
Our latest video explores America’s ongoing war on teachers, and explains why many of our nation’s educators are fed up and quitting their jobs.
America’s teachers dedicate their lives to caring for our youth, serving as role models, and making sure that future generations are set up for success.
So why on Earth are we treating them so badly?
They are yelled at by parents over masks, reprimanded by school boards about books they assign or let their students read, vilified by politicians for teaching honest lessons about America’s history of racism and genocide, even told to arm themselves against the possibility that their classrooms might be invaded by murderous young men with semi-automatics.
Teachers are also making less money than they were ten years ago – receiving a $2,000 pay cut on average compared to 2012 (when adjusted for inflation).
We’re also saddling our nation’s educators with huge debt. Nearly half of teachers have taken out student loans to pay for the advanced degrees often required of them — with an average debt load of $55,800.
On top of all this, 94% of teachers have had to dip into their own pockets to buy school supplies. This, in the richest country in the history of the world! And at a time when the average Wall Street employee *bonus* for 2021 hit a record high of $257,500.
Yet none of this has stopped Republicans from accelerating their war on teachers, and turning educators into political pawns in their battle to advance a radical agenda.
Republicans are quick to lob the terms “critical race theory” or “wokeism” against any curriculum that allows our youth to express their identities, advances critical thinking skills, and is honest about our nation’s tragic racial history — calling it “indoctrination” or “brainwashing.”
Why? Because the biggest threat facing the Republican Party is a new multi-racial generation of young people unafraid to speak truth to power.
Ultimately, if we don’t learn from our history — which often means learning from our mistakes — there’s no way we can tackle our country’s most pressing problems while building a better, more inclusive future. The foundation for this future begins in the classroom and relies on the work that teachers do every single day.
While the state of our education system is certainly sad, the good news is that we have the power to fight back.
Watch our video to learn more, and make sure you show support for teachers in your community today.
The work they do determines our future.
Thanks for watching,
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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