Appreciation

It has to be the weirdest Teacher Appreciation Week ever. Teachers may not be in the classroom, but they are still teaching. They are creating ways to learn and fine tuning ways to keep communication going while students are in quarantine. Quite a few are also volunteering in a variety of ways to support the basic needs of Howard County families.

There won’t be any fancy PTA lunches this year, or little gifts in the school mailboxes. That’s okay. Teachers aren’t in it for the cupcakes, or the posters, or the Pinterest gift bags. They are nice and very much appreciated. But teachers will get by without them.

Readers of this blog know that my feelings about Teacher Appreciation Week are complicated. I won’t cover that ground again. I will ask you to read the following, written by Maryland State House Speaker Adrienne Jones, and published as Guest Commentary on the site Maryland Matters.

Speaker Jones: Now Is the Golden Hour for Saving Education

I have seen numerous comments online about how our current situation spells the end for state funding for education reform. On the other hand, our current situation has presented to us how clearly  disparities in income affect educational opportunities. It could not be more clear.

Teachers are still working. Send them a note of thanks this week. Or any week, really. But go the extra mile and stay committed to education reform and the funding to support it. After such a devastating medical and economic crisis, how we implement may very well be different, but we must not lose sight of the well-documented goals of the Kirwan Commission.

Our teachers in Howard County are showing every day that they won’t quit on us, no matter how rough the going gets. Let’s not quit on them, either
.