Just a few days ago, the Acadia Parish school board in Louisiana honored its teachers of the year.
Each of its 27 schools selects a teacher of the year. Then, the district selects 3 teachers among the 27 as district winners: the Elementary T.O.Y, a Middle school T.O.Y., and a High school T.O.Y. to represent the district at the Regional T.O.Y. level which eventually feeds into the state T.O.Y. competition.
As readers of this blog know, the state of Louisiana has done more to discourage, demean and demoralize its teachers than almost any other state (I have to say “almost” because there is always Florida and a few other contenders).
Bryan Alleman, a teacher in Acadia Parish schools, was invited to be master of ceremonies for the event and he asked me to write a message to the teachers.
This is what I wrote:
Here is a message from me to Acadia Parish’s Teachers of the Year:
Today may be the hardest time ever to be a teacher in these United States, and the hardest place to be a teacher is Louisiana. The politicians don’t appreciate you. They think they know how to judge your worth, even though few if any of them would last five minutes in a classroom. They are wrong. They should be thanking you every day for your service.
Here is the truth:
Every one of you is a hero.
You go to school every day because you have a mission. You are a teacher because you want to make a difference in the lives of children.
You have been chosen as teacher of the year because you have succeeded. You do make a difference.
Your students know how important you are in their lives.
Your students appreciate what you do.
Years from now, they won’t remember who the governor was, they won’t remember who was the mayor or the state senator, but they will remember you.
They will remember you because you are changing their lives every day.
You are heroes.
Thank you.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane – You can’t imagine how much your support and encouragement for our struggles to keep public education alive mean to those of us throughout the United States. Happy Thanksgiving to all and keep up the good fight!
Nicely said. Thanks.
We are thankful to you, Louisiana teachers, for fighting the good fight and making your voices heard loud and clear. Rest assured, the truth will prevail–as such will you all. Happy Thanksgiving from the Land of Lincoln! Food for thought:
“If we are not at the table, then surely we will be on the menu.”
-John Laesch, IL Union Organizer sent this to me today!
Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for the words of support, truth and honesty I gain from all on this blog!
Reblogged this on Crazycrawfish's Blog and commented:
Congratulations to Bryan and the teachers of Acadia Parish. Usually I have to post unhappy stories, but this post seemed like an important one to make Thanksgiving.
Teachers of Louisiana, even if our political leaders seem to hate you (or feel justified in sacrificing you as political pawns) and many parents don’t understand enough about what is going on with education to realize the damage being done in the name of “choice” and “accountability,” there are those that value your hard work and contributions to children’s lives, learning and society. There are still many of us that know the truth and pray for a day when corporate interests are subborned to the interests of our children and their mentors, and not the other way around.
Today I am thankful for you.
Thank you, Diane. As a 30-year educator in Louisiana public schools, I can tell you that your support means so much – now more than ever. I will forward this to all the teachers who work with me at Delmont Elementary. A week ago today we were informed that our school would be closed because of our failure to make AYP within a year. But we are still thankful on this day, because we know that even though our state and district don’t recognize our efforts, we have truly touched the lives of 450 dhildren and families; and they have touched ours.
Thank you for your kind words. As I read extremely vile comments about teachers in my newspaper’s comments sections, it is refreshing to come to a forum where teachers are respected.
I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving!