Dear Teachers, You are our heroes. Every day of this pandemic, you have blown us away with your creativity, compassion, and commitment, your tenacity and heart. You have moved mountains to reach each child, wherever they are and despite the challenges that stand in your way. You’ve taught math classes while standing outside of homes, led online meditations to start the “school” day, created PE classes from your living room, filmed DIY science experiments, and found ways to check in with each kid. You’ve not only taught lessons; you have been our children’s lifeline to normalcy and stability, a tether and a point of connection. When Shonda Rhimes tweeted, "Been homeschooling a -year old and -year old for one hour and minutes. Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week," she put into words the collective appreciation of the nation’s parents. Here’s the secret you’ve known all along but is only now clear to the rest of us: It was always true. As leaders deeply invested in the nonpartisan, multi-sector, national effort to prepare and support 100,000 excellent preK- STEM teachers by 2021, we salute you. In our living rooms and kitchens, our bedrooms and makeshift one-room schoolhouses, we are standing and cheering for all the world to hear: “We love you, teachers!” Not because it’s easy or because you get it right every day. It isn’t, and you don’t. But you’ve chosen to get in the arena and stay there. You have managed, not just during this crisis but against the backdrop of the everyday grind, to bring joy in the midst of struggle. You have taught kids from history books and stories, legends and myths in which your names do not appear. But when we tell the story of this time, the work of teachers and what you have done to educate, inspire, and connect us all will be front and center.