Changing the mindset

As I sit here on the second to last day of summer school, after a particularly difficult year as an educator, I contemplate my future.  Over the past year, more than any other, I ponder if it is worth it.  I teach in predominately white, semi-rural district that has nowhere near the amount of socioeconomic or social-emotional problems that inner city or bigger districts have but the mindset of students seem to be the same all over as I converse with educators. As I sit here, my daily @TeachingTolerance.org newsletter comes in my email.  Within this is an open letter to teachers from a former teacher.  The letter was meant to help inspire us to keep moving on.  However, it seemed to make me more discouraged.

Within this article, she speaks about going to a conference at Harvard where she spoke to educators from around the world.  One of the people she spoke to said the following.

In Singapore, a country with few natural resources, the education system is built on the understanding that the nation’s most valuable resources are its people. A leader in Singaporean education told us that, in his country “education is investment, not expenditure,” and that “teachers plan the future.”

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These two sentences at the end of this article sank my heart into my stomach.  Until that very moment.  I never saw what I did as a liability.  But in America, that is exactly what teachers are.  We are not valued as educated professionals that have studied and worked on their craft.  We are just a line item on a budget report.  What do we as educators do with this knowledge?