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This is an editorial column and everyone has a voice. However, there are 3,660 kids in our county without a voice. If you asked any teacher in this district they would tell you the truth — salary is not in the top 25 reasons we teach. We fill those 25 reasons with names and faces in our classrooms. Real children who have real stories who deserve this levy to pass. If the levy does not pass I could be out of a job.

But I write for a reason much deeper than that — I write for my own son as well as for the 25 reasons that I leave my family and come to work every day — my students. As teachers we are not only their teacher but their nurses, their counselors, their friend and, sometimes in certain cases, their moms. They trust us and rely on us to be there for them. The biggest heartbreak for me would not be the paycheck, but that I would not being a part of the daily lives of the kids whom I have come to love.

I believe that one of the greatest gifts we can give a generation is the gift of knowledge. John D. Rockefeller said this, “Every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity an obligation, every possession, a duty.” Americans are given the right and responsibility to vote and be heard. We have the obligation to give to our children every opportunity we can. We have the duty to our county to be sure we raise a generation that will do better than us. Please think beyond the next two years and consider a lifetime of investment in the children of Bonner County.

TRACEY BIRCH-KARST

Sandpoint