Imagine publicly advocating for your chosen profession prior to actually joining it.
Two bright, eloquent about-to-be North Carolina State University graduates marched this week with future teaching colleagues at the state capitol demanding better pay and greater school funding.
Cristina Chase Lane and WinnieHope Mamboleo joined a collective voice of teachers who are rightfully asserting their demands for income aligned with the responsibility of teaching our children. Lane: “I know part of my philosophy of teaching is to teach students to have a voice… and to be activists for what they want. And I feel like I can’t teach them to do that if I don’t do it myself.”
Teaching epitomizes service. A recent NPR/Ipsos poll disclosed more than 9 in 10 teachers said they entered the profession to do good work. We each serve one another. Teachers exemplify service.
As a former mentor to a young teen through the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, I was shocked to learn how deeply immersed in students’ lives teachers and administrative staff were. Inner-city teachers know students’ tenuous family situations. They know whether their kids had dinner the night before. Boxes of clothing, along with a washer and dryer, were stored in the vice-principal’s office for kids whose clothes were not clean. Staff actively looked for children who failed to show up for class.
Financial support for dedicated teachers in this country continues to be stale, as does appropriate school funding. Hope Mamboleo has $20,000 in student loans. Of teaching she says, “I can breathe and learn and be myself in this space. I just have to be humble and know that the main difference I’m making is going to be in the class. I’m just not going to have a lavish life.”
It’s time for us to stand beside them.