National Charter Schools Week, a Time for Celebrating Great Public Schools — and the Teachers Who Make Them Possible
May 6, 2018
By: Nina Rees
Source: The 74
Teacher strikes have dominated education headlines over the past month. At the recent Reagan Institute Summit on Education, Rep. Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, was asked about the topic and offered an answer you don’t often hear from conservative Republicans. Foxx, a former university teacher and community college president, said she believes K-12 teachers are paid less than college professors “because the majority of elementary and secondary teachers are women and the majority of college teachers are men.” She called for reversing that pay dynamic and treating K-12 teachers as professionals.
This week, we celebrate two pillars of American education during National Charter Schools Week and National Teacher Appreciation Week. While union activists may see the two events as being at odds with each other, I believe that no sector stands to empower and elevate teachers more than the charter school movement.