Not another teacher group adamantly voicing their frustrations, this message is vastly different from the others. Raise Up Teachers is a platform, not a union. It is a network, not a membership. It is a professional community with passions surrounding the future of education: where it is going and who is willing to take on the next generation in this challenging career. It is the resounding melodies of educators voicing empathy and integrity about what the future of education should look like in the great state of Louisiana. It is the crew of tireless gardeners, tending to their seeds, desperate for academic growth.

Public school teachers do more with less. Less funding, less support, and less respect, yet the accountability for a public school K-12 educator is at an all-time high. In addition to the lack of resources, with fewer college graduates entering the profession, classrooms are overcrowded, discipline issues are on the rise, and student achievement suffers. As the saying goes, the harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few.

Even so, the same public school systems that are under a microscope of scrutiny for their school performance scores (SPS) and teacher pedagogy, are, much like the Resurrection fern, flourishing under unimaginable heat, rough winds, and against all odds. Counteracting the elements of frustration, retainment, and a barren assemblage of new teacher recruits. But, like a garden of hope and possibility, this state can Raise Up Teachers! Removing the weeds of red tape bureaucracy and stumps of stubbornness about teacher pay and benefits, Louisiana educators can clear a path for the next generation to feel honored to teach, to lead, and to make a difference for every child, on every campus.