Once again, you’ve got it all wrong Commissioner. This is what our teachers do.
- Spend hundreds of dollars of their own money each year to buy students supplies because their school is not properly funded
- Comfort young students who are stigmatized by people like you who separate them and make them feel as though they are less valuable as human beings
- Change diapers in schools for special needs children because they deserve a chance in this world like everyone else
- Stock in-school food pantries for students because their parents cannot afford three meals a day right now
- Spends hours of their own family time correcting papers and seeking donations for their students’ field trips
You see, Mr. Edelblut, we worry about our students all the time – not just when they are in the classroom. We live and work and share the same real-world environment as our students, every day. We do the best we can to give them every chance to succeed. Every child, not just the ones who live in our neighborhood or share our background.
If it’s “activist” to believe we all deserve the right to live, learn, work, and thrive no matter our color, immigration status or sexual orientation and gender identities—no exceptions, then every one of our members is an activist teacher.
Politicians like you push rules that restrict our freedoms and do your best to try to divide us. You are very mistaken If you believe calling us activists is an insult.
Teachers reject your efforts at division, Commissioner. We will continue every day to do all we can to ensure each one of us has the freedom to be ourselves, pursue our dreams, and have a good life.
It should be self-evident to any Education Commissioner that all students have a right to a public education in a safe learning environment. Sadly, that is not the case in New Hampshire. Many of our students are scared, anxious, and feeling threatened. They have been targets of hate speech and seen derogatory images like nooses and racist graffiti.
When students feel that they are not welcome, their ability to learn and thrive is diminished. That is unacceptable to us. We do our very best to make our students feel safe and accepted. And in doing so, we wear our activist badge proudly.