Our talented, hardworking, creative teachers and staff work tirelessly each day to help each student achieve their full potential. There is so much love in our schools — it’s palpable — and teachers are the heartbeat.
We are lucky and fortunate to have such incredible educators, but we must invest in them, just as they invest so much in our community.
Each time I get to volunteer at a school event, I am filled with renewed appreciation and respect for the incredible work our teachers and staff do each day. On a recent field trip to Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, first-graders were fascinated, observant and actively engaged with each other and the native habitats around them.
Each day at pickup and drop-off, teachers and staff know each student and family by name. Kind, thoughtful curiosity about each other’s lives floats in the breeze. New babies are greeted with impossibly wide smiles. Lovingkindness and support is shared with friends who need it, on the best and worst days.
And, in contrast, I can only imagine how difficult this season has been for teachers.
To be congratulated for the fourth consecutive year of exemplary ratings, the top 6 percent in Illinois. And yet, somehow be offered just above the state average salary, after more than 80 days without a contract. To be told repeatedly how much they’re appreciated and yet stand out in the cold rain, or sit through seemingly endless hours in board meetings — sometimes until 9:45 p.m. — just asking for a living wage.
This isn’t about the money. This is about our values.
Everyone in the community benefits from strong schools. Every dollar spent on public schools increases home values by $20, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Significant, sustained investment, that ensures each student can thrive, is essential to creating positive economic growth.
Each day, our educators are on the front lines — they are essential. Let’s reflect back some of the love they share with our community each day.
Let’s invest in the teachers and staff who are the heart of our schools.
Martha Arendt
Willard parent
Daughter of a retired teacher