Donald Trump Jr.’s “loser teachers” comment didn’t sit well with educators across the U.S. — so Brut asked a few of them to school the president’s son on what it means to be a teacher in America.
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00:00I love seeing some young conservatives because I know it's not easy.
00:04You don't have to be indoctrinated by these loser teachers that are trying to sell you on
00:09socialism from birth. I'll admit there are definitely some times when I do feel like a
00:13bit of a loser. When I have to tell my friends that I can't go out with them on a Friday night
00:18because I spent all my money that week on school supplies.
00:31Nobody becomes a teacher for the recognition. They certainly don't do it for the money.
00:36They do it to have an impact on the lives of our children.
00:40We're teaching the next generation of leaders, of citizens.
00:45I keep this little wall behind my desk to remind myself of all the lives that I take
00:51responsibility for every day when I come to work. Each year, I put out at least a quarter of my
00:59paycheck back into my classroom. My very first year of teaching, I put out over $5,000 because
01:05there was nothing in my classroom, not even bookshelves. So if this is what constitutes
01:11a loser teacher, count me in. I get up at 5 a.m. I'm at school by 6 and I spend at least 10 hours
01:18here. That's lesson planning, that's grading, that's working with kids. I'm being pulled out
01:24in the hallway because a kid has an episode where they're upset about something. Or I'm
01:29reading student writing and I come across like a story today where I asked kids, you know,
01:35what's something that you just wish you had? And I had a kid write, I wish I had a house
01:40because I've lived in trailers my whole life and house would be really neat. I want to let you know
01:45that I am not a loser, but in fact I am a champion for public education. Every day I teach my students
01:52to read. Not only do students learn to decode words and understand the sounds associated with
01:58various letter combinations, they also grapple with complex information and new ideas. Being a
02:05loser teacher means I've often gone years without receiving a pay raise despite having effective
02:10evaluations. I've also received a pay cut due to cuts across the state. Being a loser teacher means
02:17I was here for eight hours on Saturday, all unpaid, looking at data, creating resources my
02:25students would use this year, and coming up with the best hands-on ideas I could to keep my students
02:30engaged. So the idea of, you know, being called a loser teacher and then also having somebody
02:37threatened from the same political party, threatened to take my pension is, it's frustrating.
02:47So I would just ask Donald Trump Jr. that before you come at educators,
02:53you take a few minutes to educate yourself.