A teacher sent me this link and urged me to post it.
This is a story about Lauren Rousseau, a substitute teacher who lost her life during the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School on one of the days that she was hired to teach.
Teaching was what she most wanted to do, but Newtown had a declining enrollment and was not hiring teachers. It has laid off 10% of its teachers in the past few years.
Lauren Rousseau worked for $75 a day with no benefits.
She was a barista at Starbucks when she wasn’t teaching.
Read it soon because the Wall Street Journal will have it behind a paywall in a few days.
The teacher who sent it to me suggested that it was remarkable because the Wall Street Journal editorial pages are known for their nonstop tirades about teachers and public education.
The editorial board has long been a cheering section for vouchers and the free market and a loud critic of public education.
It is rare that one will see a kind word there about anyone connected to public education.
But I note that this is an article by the news staff, which has long been one of the best in the nation, and which does not share the political agenda of the editorial board.
Congratulations to the fine journalists on the news side of the WSJ for telling Lauren Rousseau’s moving story.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What a touching article. I’m glad you posted it becuase I hadn’t really seen too much on her. I do not know anyone that this entire horrific and unfathomable tragedy has not affected. Since the day it happened, it has not for a moment left my mind. If there was anything I could do to go back to early that morning and make it NOT happen, I would.
Had I been there, and I mean this with all of my heart, I would have laid down my life for every one of those children if it would even come close to saving any of their lives. My heart aches for the children who died, the children who lived it, the faculty of the school, the parents, and the relatives…. I do not think any of us will ever forget that day…that hour…those faces.
This is a story we know because of a horrific incident. Imagine all the stories we don’t know because there was no horrific incident.
Whether in of you believe in God or not, check this out: http://lynleahz.com/2012/09/16/pray-for-and-with-your-children-before-you-do-anything-else-today-this-is-serious/ exactly three months to the date…something was spoken to me about kids in school getting killed..young children. I made the post two days after it was spoken to me three times. The URL is dated….I can’t change that. On the third time, I was overcome with heaviness and felt sick… so I made a prayer request asking people to pray for children. I don’t mean that I am special..I’m sure there were many more being urged of the same thing.
A touching story. For year I have thought that the editorial writers of the WSJ should be forced to read their own paper.
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
It is heartbreaking that on top of everything else, she had to pour coffee at Starbucks just to have health insurance.
Bless them one and all. There is no doubt that Lauren’s thoughts were on those children in her final moments. The courage shown that day by those who were there for the children’s welfare (school and community personnel) is a testament to our love for our children. The battle cry going forward should be, “Remember Sandy Hook” much as “Remember the Alamo” referenced the courage in the face of overwhelming odds. That courage was shown in both places. It should not be about only the violence, it should be about the children. Their little lives are precious and protecting them from life’s injustices is our collective job.
I am retired after 34 years as a public school teacher and I sub a couple of days a week. I usually have to locate someone to open the door to the assigned classroom and I ask that they leave it unlocked so I don’t get locked out unintentionally later. But I heard in a news report that due to being a sub she was not issued a key therefore could not lockdown the room. I will make sure that in the future I have a locked door or a key in the event that I need to protect myself and the students from a shooter.