August 26, 2024
Happy Monday, my friends! It’s that time of year again…back to school! By now most schools at all levels in Ohio have started back, some are even beginning their second or third week of school. After almost 30 years of living my life on an academic calendar both as a student and then a professional, this has been the first year where I didn’t feel like I was in crisis mode at the beginning of August. That said, living next to an elementary school, it’s hard not to notice the beginning of the academic year. Several of my friends are teachers and other friends are sending children back to school or off to different levels of education for the first time. I return to MTSO for my second year ready to take two courses in Biblical Studies—an introduction to the New Testament and an intensive course on the Gospel of Matthew.
Even though I’ve never felt called to be a classroom teacher, I’m an educator at heart. I was blessed to be part of a graduate program in higher education and student affairs that trained us to be educators as much as it trained us to be administrators. As a profession, teaching is under assault by an array of forces from federal and state policies, opponents of “wokeness,” and the perennial crowds who utilize education as a tool of social engineering. Teachers are continually put under additional stress by systems and legislation which regulate what they can teach, say, and do in their classrooms. In some school districts LGBTQIA+ teachers can’t mention their same-gender spouses or their true identity as transgender and nonbinary individuals. Laws have been proposed and passed limiting what information a teacher can protect even if they fear that information might cause a student physical or psychological harm. This is all to say nothing of the very real fact that teachers are overworked, underpaid, and forced to buy the supplies they need to provide a basic education to their students all while politicians discredit their professional preparation by creating “pathways” for people from other careers to become teachers often in less time and spending less money than they were forced to spend.
As public education is further devalued, we have seen laws passed creating educational savings accounts (ESAs)—otherwise known as vouchers—giving families the option of taking money that should be going to public education and using it at private schools. I admit that as someone who attended 13 years of Catholic education (K-12) and supports private education at least in principle, I struggle with ESAs. But herein lies the dirty truths that proponents of ESAs try to hide. First, in many cases and indeed in many Ohio counties there is no private educational option for which an ESA would cover tuition for one child during one academic year. Second, many of the high-level proponents of ESAs—in Ohio, other states, and at the federal level—have a financial stake in the schools which would benefit from the ESAs. Both of these facts say nothing about what is being taught in these schools and which social groups are being uplifted and which social groups are being demonized. There is a bill in the Ohio General Assembly currently which would even allow ESAs to be used at non-chartered schools.
In a PSA that many of us will remember, a child expresses their interest to be a teacher, but others encourage them to be a doctor or lawyer. The commercial ends with the child saying, “If there were no teachers, where would doctors be?” Teachers, professors, and educators of all kinds form the foundation upon which all other professions, careers, and callings are based. Rather than tie there hands and bound their lips, we should give them the finest buildings, the best technology, abundant resources free of charge, a wage commiserate with the immense influence they have, and long-term support after they retire.
Who were your favorite teachers? What have education and educators meant for you?
Let us pray: God of Love, thank you for every teacher who notices a child’s special gift. Thank you for teachers who are listeners and gentle guides. Thank you for teachers who expect much and love enough to demand more. Thank you for the special teacher each one of us remembers. Sustain teachers who give everything they have. Strengthen teachers who assume the blame for so many problems beyond their control. Help exhausted teachers rest. God of Strength, encourage teachers to care and inspire them to nourish. Motivate teachers to keep on learning for the fun of it and to make learning enjoyable for children. We wonder at teachers who know how to quiet a class of five-year-olds or help fourth graders be empathetic. Bless the people who are expected to accomplish these miracles and who know how to comfort children when miracles don’t happen. God of Justice, help and support teachers in their special calling, wherever they teach and whatever obstacles they must face. We pray these things in the name of our great teacher, Jesus Christ. Amen.
(Prayer from the National Catholic Education Association)
Blessings on your weeks, my friends! Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.
Faithfully,
Ben
PS. In almost three years of writing Monday Moments I have never missed a Monday, that is until last week. Through a combination of feeling unmotivated, uninspired, and sick, I didn’t have anything ready even on Monday morning and decided not to force the process. I apologize for the week without and I hope you enjoyed today’s reflection.
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