(Heather Goss Gookin)
Every single teacher in the state of Arizona had the same moment today. A moment when their hand reached over and hovered over the light switch for just a second longer. They had a moment when they turned the lights off, and stopped, with their hand on the door. Every single teacher hesitated in that moment. We hesitated and thought about everything that we were about to risk. We thought about your kids. We thought about their future.
And then we turned around and faced our empty classrooms. And even though it was the same classroom that it had always been – today our rooms looked different. We looked around, suddenly serious, and wondered what else we needed to grab. We all had this moment where we knew the storm was upon us and we needed to grab what was most precious….
And then we turned and we walked out. Because we knew that the most precious thing in our classroom wasn’t our laptop, our lesson plan book, or even the framed picture of our family that sits on our desk. It was your kids.
Your kids are what drove us to walk out that door. Your kids deserve to have good teachers, not any teacher they can get to take the job. Your kids deserve to get the attention of a teacher, and that only happens when they don’t have to share that attention with 37 other kids. Your kids deserve to have the technology they need to take the tests that the state requires them to take. Your students deserve to have intercom systems that work, so they can say the Pledge of Allegiance with their peers. Your students deserve to have a teacher who will stay for years, one they can invite to their high school graduation. Your kids deserve to get the money that you voted “yes” on.
We spend 8 hours a day with your kids. We love them and care for them and we know without a doubt they are the most precious thing about school. And they deserve more.
Still #RedForEd #FundOurFuture