I am a NYC Public-School Teacher

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I belong to the largest public-school system in the world.  I teach more than a million students.

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I seat 34 students in a classroom, sometimes more.  I expand minds in overcrowded, under-sized spaces.  When I must, I teach in trailers.  

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I come to work through rain, sleet, snow, everything but Snowmageddon.  I come when others stay home.  Sometimes I seem to outnumber my students.  I rely on the rails.  I drive the icy roads.  I carry my shovel by my side.

I am a NYC public-school teacher.  
I teach children who speak no English.  I am sometimes the first classroom a teenager has entered anywhere in the world.  I teach students with all ranges of disabilities.  I do not reject anyone at my doors.

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I have my standards.  I have always had my standards.  I had them before there was a "Common Core."  I will have them long after. 

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I do not worship at the shrine of high-stakes standardized test.  I do not put my faith in tests manufactured with cut scores designed to fail a generation.  I help students grow in ways that no test will ever measure.  My interests are largely those of my students, but I am not their "growth" score.  

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I collect and grade millions of papers every day.  I use tons of ink, red, blue, black, green, you name it.  I am equal opportunity.

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I teach some of the most gifted minds in the country.  And, I teach some who have lost faith in themselves.  I teach in underfunded and over-evaluated classrooms.  I reach into my own pockets to pay for the supplies my students need.  

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
More than 3/4 of my students receive free or reduced-price school lunches.  Many of my students come to school hungry.  They leave with stomachs and minds full.

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I teach a veritable United Nations of students.  With an open mind, I keep my doors open to people of all nations and persuasions.  We learn together.

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I do not need padded cells and orange shirts to discipline students.  I do not rely upon excessive suspensions.  I do not "counsel" out students.  I do not easily lose hope.

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
I do not cancel school so that students, the ones who have not been shown my door, can be carted off to protest for me in Albany.  I work with a union to protect me, so I can better protect my students.  

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
If you think my job is easy, join me.  You may find you were wrong.  You may look to better paying jobs.  Do try to stay with it for more than five years though, if you can.  Kids need caring, experienced teachers, all 1.1 million or so of them.  Today, they need these teachers more than ever.

I am a NYC public-school teacher.  
I am far older than a century.  If in the name of trying to fix me, you try to destroy me, it will come back to haunt you in ways you cannot even imagine.    

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
Traditionally, I  do not say much outside of my classroom, but I have always been there quietly as the backdrop to so many things taken for granted.  I am the glue that holds society together.  

I am a NYC public-school teacher.
If I and my million plus students raise our voices together, you will hear its echo ring to eternity.