TACOMA, Wash. – More than 100 teachers from across southern Puget Sound came together for a teacher town hall to talk about how to keep their kids safe in the wake of growing concerns around immigration and increased deportations.
"My kids now come to school with a change of clothes in their backpack in case they need to run,” said Pam Kruse, an 8th-grade teacher in the Franklin Pierce School District.
The town hall was organized by Nate Bowling, a teacher at Lincoln High School and Washington state’s 2016 Teacher of the Year.
“When our students don’t feel safe, it impacts their learning,” said Bowling, who noticed some his students were having a hard time focusing in class.
Kruse noticed the same for some of the immigrant students in her class who may be undocumented, along with their families.
“How can you focus on increasing your math score and learning to read if you’re worried about, ‘Will my parents be there when I get home this afternoon?’” she said.
Vanessa Hernandez, an attorney with the ACLU, was present at the town hall Monday night to answer questions and said schools are considered a safe zone.
“Kids can’t be kept out of schools simply because of their immigration status,” she said.
For some in the audience, like Kent Johnson, this is information he’ll use down the road when he becomes a teacher this fall.
"I really need to know how I can best serve my undocumented students, because in the current political climate we’re in right now, if teachers don’t know how to serve these students in the best ways, we’re going to lose them, and we’re going to lose really bright, capable minds that can help us move onto the future,” said Johnson.
For others like Kruse, this is information they’ll need for use in the classroom tomorrow.
“These are my babies,” Kruse said. “I want to make sure I’m protecting my babies.”
