Julia Henrichs

My grandma was a teacher at the one room schoolhouse, my mom and aunt were teachers, and my sister and I are educators. When I grew up, there was only one elementary, middle, and high school in town where everybody went to school and where the teachers were respected. My vision for Safe to Teach is to gather like-minded teachers who want to restore public trust in the teaching profession and revive people's faith in their neighborhood public school. 

​​

Today, rather than feeling pride, I know many teachers who are embarrassed to tell people they are teachers because of the bad press we've received. In reality, it’s a relatively small group of activists who are tarnishing the reputation of our profession. While the teacher's union represents only a small minority of teachers, they claim to represent all of us. When union leadership cast a vote of “no confidence” for the superintendent in Jeffco, they did so without polling their members. Rather than uplifting teacher voices, union members have reported their colleagues to “Safe to Tell” for having the “wrong” views regarding Covid mandates, along with other baseless accusations that were determined to be unfounded. They even removed one of their own members recently for voicing the "wrong" opinion and siding with parents. In this crazy climate, teachers are afraid to teach. They're scared of getting written up, ostracized, sued, or even fired. 

​​

Due to the actions of a handful of educators, many families who were formerly our biggest fans, now distrust the educators in their school. They too, no longer feel safe at public school. I know countless families who have pulled their kids from traditional public school in favor of home school, charter school, or private school because they don’t believe that their family will be fairly represented or that their boundaries will be respected. 

​​

The result is that educators feel under pressure from all sides. They have the state, district, and their union saying one thing and the national government and local parent groups demanding another. They are pressured to be all things to all people in support of the whole child and social and emotional learning on one hand while facing demands for better educational outcomes on the other. At the end of the day, teachers need to know that they are Safe to Teach their content area of expertise and to manage their classroom in a way that values the students and families they serve (as they have always done.)

​​

As a parent and a SEL, I understand this task well. Not only do I teach educators to value others' perspectives and respect different families' backgrounds and beliefs, but each year, I am forced to have several awkward conversations where I request that my daughters' teachers respect our family's unique values and beliefs as well. In addition to having unique perspectives, our twins have a rare disability as well. One of my daughters requires an Individual Service Provider to access her education and Jeffco SPED directors hold the keys to her IDEA funding. Because this funding does not follow the child, many kids, like mine, do not have school choice.​ 

​

As a result, I am 100% committed to making Jeffco the top choice, not a last resort, for me to work and for my girls to attend school. I want public school to be a place where all students, regardless of their race, gender, or disability, are growing academically. I want it to be a place where all families, regardless of socioeconomic status, political affiliation, or religious belief, feel that their values will be upheld and their boundaries respected. 

​

The truth is that students need a wide variety of teachers who represent a wide variety of views in order to see themselves reflected in the community and to learn how people with different perspectives can work together for the common good. Our stated mission is to elevate a wide variety of exceptional teacher voices from across the district to find win-win solutions that empower teachers to feel Safe to Teach and students to feel safe to learn.