Thank a teacher for their above-and-beyond service

In the aftermath of the execution of fourth graders in Uvalde, Texas, two things are clear. A well-resourced, militarized, taxpayer-funded local police department did not deploy to save the town’s children.

They did arrest, tackle and handcuff desperate parents trying to run past their “perimeter” to save their children as shots continued to ring out from the school.

Meanwhile, inside the classroom, two teachers gave their last measure of devotion to protect and comfort their students. Often referred to as the “two adults” that were killed during this massacre, they were devoted teachers: Eva Mireles, 44, and Irma Garcia, 46.

They did not go to work that day choosing to be heroes. They were just doing their jobs.

Our teachers are under-resourced, underpaid and often the object of derision rather than respect. They show up every day in an increasingly hostile environment as senseless gun violence has invaded our schools and has shredded the fabric of our culture.

We have asked them to educate and protect our children. Teachers are given the responsibility of nurturing the next generation. In other words, our nation’s future.

Please vote to support and protect public education. Vote to pay our teachers well, given what we ask of them and what our children need from their educators.

Vote against the extremism that is undermining our schools, our teachers, many of our communities and our democracy. Please remember Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia. May they be the last to die in our classrooms.

Alexa Maros is the ward chairwoman for the Eldorado Area Democrats.