“Identification”

By: Hailey Pulis

My earliest childhood memories consisted of weekends organizing my mother’s classroom library and “grading” papers alongside her, which really just meant adding a scratch and sniff sticker to the papers that got especially bad marks. Going to school on a Saturday sounds awful to any other 8 year old only to do tedious tasks that are expected to magically be done when students arrive every Monday. I on the other hand am forever grateful for these moments that expanded into asking my mother why this question was wrong or how to effectively find “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series using the dewey decimal system. Growing up with this experience was the equivalent to having the curtain pulled back of what my own teachers did for their students that went out of the 40 hour work week. Similar to the way I discovered the behind the scenes work that teachers do, I also learned that I needed to learn more about what they receive in return.

Personally, I’ve been supported by nearly every teacher that’s taught me in the 10 plus years in the public education system. Now when I say supported I’m referring to the patience, assistance and most importantly identification I find within my teachers. Identification as in seeing myself within those that I rely on to educate me is bound to happen when 79% of America’s public school teachers identify as white (National Center for Education Statistics). Another identifier is that I can relate to over 67% percent of America’s teachers with the fact that they too have parents with college degrees or more (Washington Post). Study after study has come to the same conclusion: having teachers of the same race significantly improves a student’s performance. Sports and media are often where the notion of same race role models originated but that doesn’t mean it has to stop there. Students, especially from marginalized backgrounds, who have a teacher to identify with have the same effect as a child seeing a pop star win a grammy or a minority become president and feel inspired to do the same. So if this concept has been proven, what’s the most effective step to diversifying the teacher force? The answer always ends with money. First generation college students often don’t have the resources to justify an education career that will pay off student loans and the same goes for non-white communities that are disproportionately in poverty. Majority of the time, it’s a privilege to be able to become a teacher as the current salaries that Colorado is giving its teachers isn’t livable without other sources of income like generational wealth.

Financial burdens that Colorado’s teachers are expected to confront will leave a negative long term effect on our state’s economy. It is sickening to watch as my city lags behind in development all the while failing to attract businesses, forcing Denver into a shadow of what it once was and only a dream of what it could be. Failing to properly pay our teachers will only handicap Colorado’s attempt in becoming the best state for education. I implore Colorado legislatures to look at my story as an example of what could happen for students of all creeds and races if we invested in our teacher’s paychecks rather than prioritizing our correctional facilities (Colorado 2023 Budget). This state’s trajectory is still salvageable, yet time is of the essence for the sake of our teachers and students alike.