National Teacher Day 2027 is on Tuesday

About National Teacher Day

National Teacher Day sits in the middle of Teacher Appreciation Week and gives the week a single focal point. Students write notes, families send messages, and schools and districts recognize their staff. The National Education Association (NEA), the country's largest teachers' union, also uses the day to talk about pay, staffing and resources for public schools, arguing that appreciation should go beyond a thank-you card.

The NEA traces the idea to 1953, when former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt asked Congress to set aside a day recognizing the work of educators. An older NEA history page also credits Arkansas teacher Mattye Whyte Woodridge, who wrote to political and education leaders from the mid-1940s urging a national day for teachers. Congress did eventually act: after lobbying by the NEA and its Kansas and Indiana affiliates, it declared March 7, 1980, as National Teacher Day for that year only.

The NEA continued to observe a day in early March until 1985, when its Representative Assembly voted to move National Teacher Day to the Tuesday of the first full week of May. That placed it inside the teacher week that National PTA had begun designating in May the year before. The NEA has kept that rule ever since; it listed May 5 as National Teacher Day in 2026, within Teacher Appreciation Week on May 4 to 8.

The day is an informal observance with no federal holiday status, and schools stay open. It is separate from World Teachers' Day, the international observance on October 5.

Sources: National Education Association: NEA celebrates National Teacher Appreciation Week (press release, May 2025), National Education Association: Teacher Appreciation Week 2026, National Education Association: National Teacher Day History (archived 2013). How we check dates.

How to mark National Teacher Day

• Write a short, specific note to a current teacher about something they did that helped you or your child.
• Track down a former teacher who made a difference and tell them, by letter, email or a message through the school.
• Ask the school or its parent group which supplies or volunteer help a classroom actually needs, and offer that.
• Thank the staff who support teaching too, such as aides, librarians, counselors and substitute teachers.
• Find out how your local school board handles teacher pay and class sizes, and attend a meeting.

National Teacher Day dates