The Ballistics of Betrayal: It’s Time for a GI Bill for Educators

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We were the veterans of the pandemic. Now, we are the casualties of a housing crisis. Here is the legislation we need immediately.

In my previous piece, The Aerodynamics of Exile, I wrote about the forces that keep a person unmoored. But today, I am writing about the forces that must be gathered to fight back.

For 977 days, I lived in hotels with my two children. I did this while possessing a Master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction and serving as a Teacher Librarian and Journalism Instructor. But yesterday, I read about a school counselor in Charlotte living the exact same nightmare.

This is not an anecdote. This is an epidemic.

The disconnect between our résumés and our reality is not just a personal tragedy; it is a systemic indictment. It points to a darker truth about how America treats its educators in the post-COVID era.

We are the Vietnam Veterans of the Pandemic.

Think about it. In 2020, we were drafted. We were slapped with the label “Essential” — a badge of honor that felt suspiciously like dog tags. We were deployed to the frontlines of a crisis the world didn’t understand. We managed the panic of parents, the trauma of students, and the logistical nightmare of hybrid learning. We were the infantry in the war to keep the economy running.

We served our tour. And now? The war is over. The masks are off. And like the veterans of the 1970s, we have returned to a society that is desperate to forget the war, and by extension, is eager to discard the warriors.

We have come home to a country that offers us no GI Bill for housing, no ticker-tape parade, and no stability.

The Silence is The Weapon

What is most disturbing is not just that teachers are homeless; it is that we have accepted “resilience” as a substitute for “rent.”

Society praises our bravery because it is cheaper than paying for our housing. They call us heroes so they don’t have to pay us a living wage. But I am tired of being brave. Bravery is what you need when you are under fire. The war is over. We shouldn’t be under fire anymore.

This is a national disgrace. When the people charged with safeguarding the next generation cannot find a safe place to sleep, the social contract is broken.

The Demands: A “GI Bill” for Educators

We don’t need more “Teacher Appreciation Weeks” or discounts on office supplies. We need policy. If we are going to be treated like veterans of a crisis, we deserve the benefits that come with that service.

We need an uprising of voters demanding immediate legislative action. Here is what we need — yesterday:

1. A Federal Housing Stipend for Educators Just as the GI Bill guaranteed housing loans for veterans, we need federal housing assistance for public school employees. No teacher should ever be homeless in the district where they teach. We need subsidized housing options specifically for essential education workers.

2. The “Cost of Living” Salary Floor Federal law must mandate that teacher salaries be pegged to the local cost of rental housing. If a district’s average rent is $2,000, the starting salary must reflect the ability to pay that without rent-burdening the teacher.

3. Eviction Protections for Essential Workers During the pandemic, we had eviction moratoriums. We need permanent protections for essential public servants. A teacher or school counselor should not be evicted while actively employed by the state.

How to Start the Uprising (It Takes 2 Minutes)

This is not a suggestion; it is a mobilization. The stories of homeless educators are not “sad news” — they are policy failures.

You have a representative whose job it is to listen to you. You can find them right now at Congress.gov.

Call them. Email them. Copy and paste this script if you have to:

“I am calling to demand a ‘GI Bill’ for our educators. It is a national disgrace that teachers and counselors with Master’s degrees are living in hotels and cars because their salaries cannot cover rent. We treated them like soldiers during the pandemic; we need to support them like veterans now. What is your plan to subsidize housing for essential school staff?”

I am not a “survivor” of the housing crisis; I am a casualty of the education crisis. But casualties can still fight.

We held the line for your children when the world shut down. Now, you need to hold the line for us.