Opinion
Federal Opinion

What Newly Elected Teachers Should Do Next

By Jonathan E. Collins — November 07, 2018 4 min read
Then-Democratic candidate for congress Jahana Hayes appears at a campaign rally in Hartford, Conn., last month.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Last semester, I was preparing a lecture on the politics of teachers, and I decided to incorporate an exercise, where I went around and asked all of my undergraduate students: “That teacher who impacted you the most, what made that teacher so effective?” As students responded aloud, I filled the white board with a constellation of intangibles: “She was caring.” “He took a personal interest in me.” “She held high expectations.” The unifying theme was that the great teachers are inspiring leaders. In fact, they sound just like the kind of inspiring leaders we need trying to solve the nation’s greatest problems.

Teachers have realized this.

It is no secret that teachers are now running for office at a record rate. According to Education Week reporting, more than 170 teachers ran for state legislatures in 2018. In yesterday’s election, at least 41 of those candidates won their races. There are also stories of people like Jahana Hayes—the 2016 National Teacher of the Year who just won her race to represent Connecticut in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the wake of the 2018 midterm elections, I think it’s important to depart from the louder debate about a turnout surge signaling a backlash to a fear-mongering president, Democratic gains that fell short of a major “blue wave,” and the success of progressive female candidates. Instead, let’s place context on a less-discussed but equally important group of new public officials: teachers.

See Also: Over 170 Teachers Are Running for State Office. Here’s What We Know About Them

This isn’t the first time that teachers have sought political office, but this is an extremely crucial political moment. As a political scientist, I offer a few strategies that teachers-turned-legislators need to pursue.

Position yourself for re-election. Other than making policy, the most important thing for an elected official to do is to remain an elected official. Newly elected teachers must begin thinking about re-election early and often. The downside of this has been the constant fundraising needed to run campaigns, but people and votes are what decide electoral contests. Teachers are uniquely equipped to maintain and grow community ties. This has to be at the forefront of how they govern.

Target agenda change. As teachers position themselves for successful re-election, their seniority will eventually breed opportunities to assume leadership on key committees and subcommittees. As teachers, committee positions related to education are the natural first step, but they shouldn’t stop there. We also need audacious leadership in the chairperson positions of those committees. The committees are where bills get reshaped into more viable policy proposals. We need bold and compassionate leadership spearheading that process.

Create a pipeline. Crafting quality policy proposals is but half of the battle. In order to ensure that teachers can actually increase the quality and quantity of government commitment to public education, teachers must begin the work of opening up leadership pipelines. We need legislative bodies that behave like our best teachers, not newly elected teachers who behave like previous members of legislative bodies. In order to change the look and focus of our decisionmaking bodies, elected teachers have to pave the way for others to come behind them.

Make education the leading issue. The last strategy is the most obvious: Teachers have to make education the leading issue in American politics. This requires strategically reframing education as an issue that is both central to the strength of the economy, but also set apart from it. Studies routinely show that voters make decisions at the ballot box based on the conditions of the economy. Our leaders need to push us to reimagine education as an issue inseparable from how we’ll address inequality, increase economic mobility, and improve the overall performance of our economy.

However, according to polling this year by Gallup, the economy-related concerns are at the lowest since the turn of the 21st century. Economic anxiety has been replaced with “government dissatisfaction” and a list of factors like “immigration” and “unifying the country” that place social divides at the center. Meanwhile, only 3 percent of respondents rank education as the most important non-economic issue facing the country. To the extent that other issues are gaining national attention, education needs to be the leading non-economic issue. In particular, we should think of education as a way to create unity in times of division.

Making education the top national concern in voter’s minds will require constant messaging from teachers reminding us of its importance. It will also require the teachers across cities and states to coordinate under the shared goal of disseminating that message.

During that class exercise, one of my students made a comment that many of us who are fortunate enough to fill prestigious positions often utter: “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my teachers.”

This inspiring batch of newly elected teachers have an opportunity to change the course of our politics and to give that statement an even larger meaning.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Trump Admin. Starts Moving CTE to Labor Dept. After Supreme Court Order
The Education Department put arrangements to move some of its programs on hold while court battles over downsizing played out.
4 min read
Students make measurements to wood to add to a tiny home project during their shop class at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2022.
Students make measurements to wood to add to a tiny home project during their shop class at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2022. The Trump administration is shifting management of career and technical education programs to the U.S. Department of Labor now that the Supreme Court have given the go-ahead to proceed with downsizing of the U.S. Department of Education.
Nate Smallwood for Education Week
Federal Hope Shattered for Laid-Off Ed. Dept. Staff After Supreme Court Order
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to proceed with 1,400 Education Department layoffs.
6 min read
Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025.
Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025. The Supreme Court on July 14, 2025, allowed the Trump administration to proceed with department layoffs that a lower-court judge had put on hold.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Says Undocumented Students Can't Attend Head Start, Early College
The administration issued notices saying undocumented immigrants don't qualify for Head Start and some Education Department programs.
7 min read
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. The Trump administration said Thursday that undocumented children are ineligible for Head Start and a number of other federally funded programs that the administration is classifying as similar to welfare benefits.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Federal How Medicaid, SNAP Changes in Trump's Big Budget Bill Could Affect Schools
The bill will stress a major funding stream schools rely on, leading to ripple effects that make it harder for schools to offer free meals.
6 min read
President Donald Trump signs his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump signs his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington. The bill cuts federal spending for Medicaid and food stamps—cuts that stand to affect students and trickle down to schools.
Evan Vucci/AP