One of the misconceptions I run into most often is that private school teachers are better than public school teachers.

Untrue.

1/

Private school teachers, who are untrained, derive prestige from the higher status of their pupils. No slight on them. But the privileges of their students are not an indicator of their pedagogical skills.

2/

They also derive prestige from the elite colleges they often attend. This is intentional marketing by privates, btw, who know that status sells. Getting into an elite college does not make you a good teacher.

3/

Again this is not to slight private school teachers. I value the work of all educators. Teaching is a calling, an art, a service, and a profession.

4/

But I am constantly shocked by our collective delusion that public school teachers are somehow less skilled, by virtue of...what? What is known about their skills as educators?

5/

Teachers working with racially minoritized and low-income students are often our best educators. Yet their status suffers because of the low status of their students—students who deserve our respect as much as their teachers do.

6/

I’ll stop. This could be a thousand tweet thread. No one needs that.

Just...next time you want to say something about teachers...stop...and be like:

a) what do I actually know?
b) what is merely status ideology?

7/

I bid you adieu.

8/8