It's Teacher Depreciation Week!

So today marks the beginning of National Teacher Appreciation Week. I wanted to post something really snarky with a link to an article about a teacher being fired over something completely ridiculous (for instance, the principal of a school whose career and reputation were destroyed by a Rupert Murdoch-sponsored witch hunt). But then, the good 'ol FLS came through with this letter from the head of a local PTO:

Over the past five years, I've had the wonderful good fortune of working with the teachers and administrators of Stafford County.

Because the week of May 5-9 is set aside as Teacher Appreciation Week, it's my pleasure to extend my public thanks to this very special group of professionals.

Their work is done quietly, away from the headlines, away from the applause, and away from the pomp so often associated with celebrity.

And yet their passion for our children is clear.

It is clear with each child who has his or her mind opened to the possibilities of the world. It is clear with each spark of creativity they instill, each flash of brilliance that is nurtured, and each closed door that is quietly unlocked.

Thousands of tomorrows are touched by their skills, and yet a thousand thanks are not enough.

Let me be the first this week to say "thank you," and to say that in Stafford County, our teachers don't just open books; they open minds.

Now on the surface this seems like a nice letter about teachers and I'm sure that was the intent. But it basically strikes to the heart of why I cannot stand the idea of "Teacher Appreciation Week."

Teacher Appreciation Week is, first, like Valentine's Day--one of those artificially created holidays that's set up to get you to buy stuff. Do I need to have a set day to tell my wife I love her? No. Do I need to have a set day to want to hear a student say "thank you"? Exactly.

Second, Teacher Appreciation Week leads to platitudes like those in this letter that are condescending at best. If a student were to walk up to me this week and say, "Hey, I am really learning something in your class," I would very much appreciate it because that's positive customer feedback in a way. But hearing a PTO mom say that "Their work is done quietly, away from the headlines, away from the applause, and away from the pomp so often associated with celebrity. And yet their passion for our children is clear" makes me feel like I'm being patronized.

I don't need to be pointed out as if I'm the charity case. I'm not the kid on the Little League team who can't hit (okay, I was, but that's beside the point). And I'm not going to go off on some rant that says, "You want to appreciate me? Pay me what I'm worth" because while I really think that I should be paid what I'm worth, responding to Teacher Appreciation Week like that just feeds the martyr complex.

When I worked in legal marketing, our firm would have an "employee appreciation day" where the partners at my firm would buy breakfast for all of the staff (secretaries and other admin, including the marketing staff). At the firm my wife worked at (she was also in legal marketing at the time) they would actually serve breakfast. We made out with some cool swag but for the most part it felt degrading. Like, hey man, I went to college and have a degree just like you. Sure, I didn't go to law school and make half your salary but that doesn't mean I want you to serve me eggs.

Later this week, when the PTSA at my school does whatever it's going to do, it'll be with the same attitude. "Thank you for everything you do." Yeah ... "there there, little teacher" from people who by and large live in a bubble wherein they don't slug it out at work every day and by and large don't truly understand the "community" which they claim to serve. If you put the makeup of most of these organizations against the makeup of the student population of most schools, you'd see a serious discrepancy.

Look, if you want to show you appreciate teachers, get rid of Teacher Appreciation Week. It's condescending, it's smarmy, and most of all, it's phony. There's nothing genuine in a bunch of people serving me bagels on a set day and I don't feel appreciated beyond not having to shell out $2.00 for breakfast (and seriously? I know "I don't have to participate/acknowledge it." I get that. I'm arguing the principle here). I feel appreciated when something I've taken serious time to plan goes the way I want it and the students put in extra effort. I feel appreciated when I can read the student newspaper and be proud of a job well done. I feel appreciated when my students and I go off for five or ten minutes on a discussion wherein we argue and I don't have to hear "That's gay" or "That's retarded."

Don't waste your money on free food. Don't ply me with platitudes about my opening minds or the children being the future. I have a job that I do, which I'm passionate about. The results may never be what I want them to be, but nobody in any profession ever bats 1.000. The appreciation for me is that at the end of the day, week, month, or year of this very often hard job, I still want to do what I'm doing.

And that doesn't come from you.