AFT president Randi Weingarten
National Press Club
Washington, DC
April 18, 2019
Consider what teachers have recently said about why they teach:
“I teach because I want to change the world, one child at a time, and to show them to have passion and wonder in their learning.”
“I teach so the next generation will question—everything. The classroom should be a place where we set children’s minds free.”
“I teach because our democracy cannot survive without citizens capable of critical analysis.”
Why I felt called to teach is best summed up by this poster I have moved from office to office since I taught in the 1990s: “Teachers inspire, encourage, empower, nurture, activate, motivate and change the world.”
Teaching is unlike any other profession in terms of mission, importance, complexity, impact and fulfillment. Teachers get the importance of their work. So do parents and the public. But teachers know that some people don’t get it—whether it’s the empty platitudes, or the just plain dissing. And this has taken a huge toll.
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