How come nobody ever says, “Thank you for your service” to a teacher? It’s become the thing you have to say to a soldier, a veteran and in some cases cops, firefighters, EMTs or other “first responders.” In fact, through the efforts of misty-eyed advertising campaigns, mid-game in-stadium “recognition” ceremonies and uncountable politicians looking to build their bona fides by draping an arm around a guy or gal in uniform, “thank you for your service” has become less of a genuine thank you and more of a subliminal code for showing off your patriotism.

But still, why do we do it for soldiers and not for teachers? I know, I hear you muttering, “What a stupid question.” Our troops we are told, put their lives on the line for our freedom every day. And that’s true, many do. And whether or not you really believe in the purity of the missions our soldiers undertake is irrelevant. Our armed forces are voluntary so everyone in it has made a choice to serve, and each man or woman in uniform has their own reason for doing so. It’s fair to assume though that they’re not doing it for the discount coupons or the “attaboys” they get from the folks on the homefront. The reality is, study after study has shown that the bulk of all soldiers join up either because “it’s a job,” because they crave the camaraderie, or because they get to go play with very dangerous toys.

Not so for teachers. Studies on why people become teachers regularly come back with answers like “I want to make a difference,” or “I want to give back to kids.” Knowing full well that a career as a teacher likely means living paycheck to paycheck, putting in long hours sometimes to help just one child. Teachers arguably perform a service to their community that far exceeds their meager recognition and compensation. Even while historically, a well-educated populace has always been far more beneficial to defending a nation’s freedom than any army has ever been.

So how can I convince you to thank a teacher for their service the same way we reflexively do for men and women in uniform? How can I best illustrate that if states and communities all over America won’t financially recognize the worth of teachers, at the very least they should be worthy of the same admiration we reserve for those who have pro-actively decided to potentially put themselves in the path of a bullet? Let’s use an apples to apples comparison.

In the years 2016-2018, 111 American soldiers were killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. During that same time period, there were 186 shooting incidents in American schools resulting in 93 deaths. So for the past three years, our children and our teachers have been being killed at nearly the same rate as the soldiers we have deployed to some of the most miserable places on the planet. Places where people shoot at them every day. Students and teachers in school are supposed to be the very opposite of soldiers and war zones, yet here we are.

Our teachers don’t sign up for any of these things. Our teachers are still mostly young women, many of whom got into teaching to make the world a better place through education, not violence. Yet statistically, over the past three years American teachers faced the prospect of potentially being shot in their school roughly every four days, and still they come back to work.

Now with all due respect to the approximately 2 million uniformed Americans currently serving in active or reserve duty, and the more than 18 million veterans, tell me why American teachers aren’t also being thanked for their service? We have created a culture in this country that has resulted in 186 instances in the last three years (and at least 21 more already this year) where a gunman has opened fire in a school, requiring American teachers to protect themselves and the children in their care. Sometimes at the cost of their own lives. And the asinine response from some politicians and gun-fetishists is that we should turn teachers into soldiers. MAGA!

David Rafferty is a Greenwich resident.