As the daughter of a gun-owning, gun-control-supporting veteran and progressive social studies teacher whose calm, exasperatingly informed, “bulls—”-calling rebuttal of political speeches predated the recent media trend of “live fact-checking” by several decades, I find myself personally thrilled by Kamala Harris’ decision to select Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Not only do the two men share the same devastating “you can’t be serious” sense of humor, it’s about damn time K-12 teachers got the respect and political prominence they deserve.
Teachers are the unsung heroes of democracy and Walz, who taught social studies for nine years at Mankato West High School, is a walking, gone-viral-talking reminder of that. A reminder this country sorely needs. Famous people love to praise their favorite educators from podiums, in interviews or while receiving awards.
Remember when Tom Hanks outed his drama teacher after winning best actor for “Philadelphia,” which spawned the film “In & Out”? And certainly Hollywood loves a good teacher story — from “Welcome Back, Kotter” to ”Abbott Elementary,” “Dead Poets Society” to “Precious,” the importance of educators is regularly celebrated onscreen with pathos and passion. Indeed, as the small-town teacher/football coach who became advisor to his school’s first LGBTQ club, and a former NRA member who became a gun-control advocate after the 2018 Parkland school shooting, Walz himself h.