EDITORIAL: If schools matter, teachers must be prioritized

Recent discussions about schools — how they are funded, operated and managed — have lost sight of the most important part of the entire puzzle. 

The teachers. 

Teachers are the glue that keeps the system moving. Every weekday morning, families hand over their most valuable responsibility: their children. For hours at a time, teachers are entrusted with shaping minds, building skills and laying foundations that will last a lifetime. They do this while navigating classrooms filled with distractions, outside pressures and challenges that rarely pause at the schoolhouse door. 

Teachers are the front line. They are expected to ensure students leave the building more prepared than when they entered, often with fewer resources and more expectations piled onto their shoulders. That responsibility alone is enormous, yet it only scratches the surface of what educators are asked to do. 

Beyond academics, teachers serve as caregivers, mentors and protectors. Safety is not limited to the fear of violence that too often dominates headlines. It also includes watching for signs of mental health struggles, neglect or abuse that students may be experiencing outside of school. Many teachers are the first adults to notice when something is wrong and the last line of defense before a child slips through the cracks. 

They do all of this amid persistent uncertainty. Funding debates, staffing shortages, limited support from administrators or school boards and shifting legislation have created an environment where stability is rare. Still, teachers show up. They stay late. They spend their own money. They adapt. They do it because they care about their students and their communities. 

Yet it increasingly feels as though each new challenge is designed to push experienced teachers out of the profession and discourage new ones from entering it. Burnout is rising, and classrooms are paying the price. 

The consequences stretch far beyond school walls. Students lose individualized attention, class sizes grow, and families lose a critical layer of support they may not realize exists until it is gone. 

In 2024, 11% of teachers either left the state to pursue opportunities elsewhere or dropped out of the education field entirely. This resulted in roughly 2,000 positions that needed to be filled, and that number has been trending up and is expected to continue.  

Supporting teachers means more than praise or symbolic gestures. It requires fair pay, manageable class sizes, meaningful input in policy decisions and the resources needed to meet today’s students where they are. Respect for educators must be reflected not just in words, but in budgets, laws and daily practice.

In a state that consistently ranks in the bottom 10 nationally for education, the path forward should be clear. Supporting educators is not optional. If we want better outcomes for students, we must start by valuing the people standing at the front of the classroom.