“You’re always engaged as a teacher with a group of 30 people, trying to convince them of your points,” says Schuyler T. VanValkenburg, one of two educators elected to the Virginia state House in November.
…[Kansas Rep. Brett] Parker says that his experience leading classrooms helped equip him as a candidate. He was already used to public speaking and trying to make persuasive arguments.
“One of the things that was most clear to me after I jumped in was that being an educator was better training for running for office than most people think,” he says [Alan Greenblatt, “Teachers Aren’t Just Striking, They’re Running for Office,” Governing, 2018.03.15].
We’re also naturally inclined to public service:
“I’ve always thought teachers make incredible candidates,” says Andrea Dew Steele, president of Emerge America, which trains Democratic female candidates. “Our women run because they want to impact their community, and teachers are innately driven to do that” [Greenblatt, 2018.03.15].
Electing teachers doesn’t guarantee we’ll get good legislators—see, for example, Rep. Lana Greenfield (R-2/Doland), who disses public universities and mistakes sensible business regulation for religious discrimination. But the aptness of good educators for the hard work of developing, debating, and passing good laws is almost reason enough by itself to move the Legislative Session to summertime so teachers could serve in the Capitol without sacrificing their service in the classroom.
And soon they’ll have the training to carry a gun to the capitol. Definitely helpful if there’s another DiSanto/Johnson dust-up!
mike from iowa
2018-03-15 10:14
I believe there are a few that carry in the capitol.
grudgenutz
2018-03-15 10:20
Lana and her fat pig son, Brock, would be good fits in Trump’s Dept. of Education. They have both demonstrated many times that they come from the same bag of hammers.
OldSarg
2018-03-15 12:13
“teachers have job skills that make us pretty good candidates” so, enough job skills in addition the brain surgery of teaching to run a nation but not enough to carry a pistol. . . hmmm
Roger Cornelius
2018-03-15 13:48
The nation has a brain surgeon leading Housing and Urban Development that he is uniquely unqualified for, proving that you can’t do brain surgery and lead a housing program.
grudznick
2018-03-15 17:10
The Greenfields, teachers both, should not be allowed to carry weapons in their classrooms. Teachers are notoriously bad with weapons. I still maintain the janitors, who are used to working with their hands and tools, should be the ones packing. And getting raises.
Anne Beal
2018-03-16 12:06
It would be fun to watch a whole lot of teachers trying to make ends meet on $6000/year.
And soon they’ll have the training to carry a gun to the capitol. Definitely helpful if there’s another DiSanto/Johnson dust-up!
I believe there are a few that carry in the capitol.
Lana and her fat pig son, Brock, would be good fits in Trump’s Dept. of Education. They have both demonstrated many times that they come from the same bag of hammers.
“teachers have job skills that make us pretty good candidates” so, enough job skills in addition the brain surgery of teaching to run a nation but not enough to carry a pistol. . . hmmm
The nation has a brain surgeon leading Housing and Urban Development that he is uniquely unqualified for, proving that you can’t do brain surgery and lead a housing program.
The Greenfields, teachers both, should not be allowed to carry weapons in their classrooms. Teachers are notoriously bad with weapons. I still maintain the janitors, who are used to working with their hands and tools, should be the ones packing. And getting raises.
It would be fun to watch a whole lot of teachers trying to make ends meet on $6000/year.
Of course we couldn’t, Anne. We’d all have to open bumper-car emporia during the summer.
Hopefully some teachers can make unruly wingnuts go stand in the corner or give them after session detentions and homework.