Steven Singer tells us what he thinks of Teacher Appreciation Week: It stinks!
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, America!
All over the country, millions of educators can look forward to a free burrito. Or maybe an Arby’s sandwich. Or a complimentary donut.
Because we REALLY appreciate teachers here.
What a pathetic joke!
I don’t mean to seem ungrateful.
I’ll redeem my coupon at Chipotle. I’ll take that Roast Beef Classic. I’ll grab that Dunkin’ Cruller.
But let’s be honest. These cheesy buy-one-get-one coupons don’t demonstrate appreciation. They’re guilt.
They’re a manifestation of the feeling that we SHOULD appreciate teachers, but don’t. Not really.
Not for one week, not for one day!
Why else would we begrudge them a middle class income? Why else would we provide them with so few resources and so much responsibility? Why else would we bar them from making any meaningful decisions about how their students should be taught yet hold them accountable for everything their students do?
Appreciate teachers? We don’t LISTEN to them. We don’t RESPECT them. Many of us don’t even LIKE them.
Thanks for the appreciation, folks. A middle-class income would be a good way to show real appreciation.
Stopping legislators from telling teachers how to do their job would be another.
Telling think tanks who know best to stuff it would be another.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Great grabber! I needed to read this when I saw it on Twitter. I would like to think we have it a bit better in Canada. With that said though…we are still vilified with labels like Lazy and trolled by ignorant people at all turns. We were actually talking today about how many teachers we know who are married to people who apparently loathe the profession. Sad.
Well said Diane!
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A self-anointed “education partner” at Microsoft Canada was so anxious to sell product that in Entrepreneur magazine she said, “Teachers have got to shift or get off the pot.” It reflects a disgusting lack of understanding about education and it is disgusting language. Teachers and parents are the only line of defense against tech predators like Bill Gates. and discount retailers like Walton heirs.
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Yes, it does seem insulting and pathetic. However, at my public school (mostly low income parents), we feel the love. The parents (mostly moms) go all out providing a beautiful, bountiful breakfast table and a catered lunch. There are fresh flowers and goody bags. It means a lot to them and to us. It is genuine and it feels like a holiday. I know that’s not what Steven is talking about, but I just have to say how much our parents really do appreciate us and how they enjoy celebrating the week as much as we do. Props to the moms!! Now the next step is to educate them about what is really going on with the attempt to dismantle our schools and motivate them and support them to organize and speak out for us and their children! I talk about it all the time to anyone who will listen.
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Under the so-called education reform regime, every week is Teacher Depreciation Week.
Enjoy your fast food coupons, teachers: now go fetch!
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Man, I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Singer. At my school, teacher appreciation week consists of a bunch of crappy cookies put out on the counter in the main office, complemented by a crappy gift that no one needs. Oh, also? The administration treats itself to a hypocritical round of self-congratulation for taking note of the week in an email to the teachers it spends the rest of the year denigrating.
What fun!
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If they really want to appreciate teachers, how about leaving us alone and letting us teach. Instead, we go to a million “meetings” where we are coerced to peddle their common core aligned snake oil while being forced to take marching orders from a dozen “authorities” on education who make bank off the work WE do. You can keep your cookies from Costco.
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What would it be like if the government funded schools like they wanted and the military had to have bake sales?
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