{"id":46815,"date":"2026-02-20T18:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T18:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bondahx.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/im-a-teacher-and-defending-public-education-is-now-part-of-my-job\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T18:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T18:05:19","slug":"im-a-teacher-and-defending-public-education-is-now-part-of-my-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bondahx.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/im-a-teacher-and-defending-public-education-is-now-part-of-my-job\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a Teacher, and Defending Public Education Is Now Part of My Job"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

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I didn\u2019t choose activism. It chose me the moment I realized my students were walking into my classroom carrying entire systems on their backs \u2014 systems too heavy for 15-, 16-, 17-year-old shoulders.<\/p>\n

But suddenly, in the last year, everything crystallized.<\/p>\n

It started as a field trip, at least on paper. Permission slips, buses, community-organization sponsors and chaperones. But I knew it was more, which is why the organizers asked me in advance if I could speak last spring at Advocacy Day 2025 with Funding Illinois\u2019 Future<\/a>. When I said yes, I didn\u2019t just prepare a speech about increasing evidence-based funding for public education across Illinois; I prepared my students.<\/p>\n

We were on the steps of our state\u2019s Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. In front of me stood elected officials, Chicago Public Schools leaders and students \u2014 my Morton East High School family. Behind me: Abraham Lincoln\u2019s statue, the Capitol building towering like history itself was paying attention to me, to us. They had our back, even if it was for just a moment. Somewhere between those two worlds, my mouth, heart and soul caught fire.<\/p>\n

I delivered one of the most significant speeches<\/a> of my life \u2014 almost levitating as the stage itself pushed me upward. My students were cheering, holding up protest signs, fists raised, cameras rolling. It felt like the heavens cracked open.<\/p>\n

Then, while I was still coming down from that moment, my students stepped into theirs.<\/p>\n

The same students who were trained by community organizations during class how to speak with their state representatives marched into the Capitol and advocated for their schools, their communities, and their futures \u2014 not as an afterthought. Not as an extra credit activity. But as part of an actual assignment that spring semester.<\/p>\n

And as the kids often say, they understood the assignment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That day reaffirmed to me something permanent: teaching and revolution aren\u2019t separate lanes. They run parallel. They feed each other, and sometimes they collide, shifting the entire trajectory for the students and teachers on that path. Let me explain. <\/p>\n

The Urgency of this Moment<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s what makes the state of education more urgent than ever:<\/p>\n

We are living through a moment where the U.S. Department of Education is being gutted piece by piece<\/a>. Critical programs, including Title I and Title III, which provide funding that directly supports our multilingual learners and low-income communities and offers free and reduced-price lunch programs, are being redirected to agencies such as the Department of Labor, reducing transparency and accountability for schools. The infrastructure intended to protect public education is being hollowed out in real time, reshaped by political agendas rather than student needs.<\/p>\n

When I talk about teacher activism, I\u2019m not talking about a trend. I\u2019m not talking about a survival strategy or more hashtags. I\u2019m talking about stepping in because behind the headlines, the safety nets for our kids and educators are quietly unraveling.<\/p>\n

This is an \u201call-hands-on-deck\u201d era, whether we asked for it or not.<\/p>\n

Still, this is how teachers can rise. Admitting my bias, I truly believe that teachers are the ones who will lead the way, cutting a path forward for our nation\u2019s kids. You can\u2019t convince me otherwise. <\/p>\n

Luckily, I have some ideas from my journey into education activism that can contribute to the collective in real time.<\/p>\n

From Gathering to Good Trouble<\/h2>\n

Before a movement ever earns its name, it begins quietly with people choosing to gather. These people are usually tired, and often bruised by institutions that promised care and delivered scarcity. Still, they come and they show up. This is why fellowships (like this one<\/a>), affinity groups and teacher-led networks matter now more than ever. As federal support erodes and safeguards wane, these spaces become our alternate landings \u2014 our emergency generators when the power goes out.<\/p>\n