In the current political context, researchers have, as Ivor Goodson (1992) earlier argued, a special obligation: "to assure that "the teachers' voice" is heard, heard loudly, heard articulately." But not just any "voice" will do--teacher troubles need to be tightly linked to issues, biography to history. On every front, directly and indirectly, teachers are under attack as incompetent, selfish, and self-serving. Aggressive reform--not renewal--efforts are underway based on a set of generally false assumptions about teacher motivation (increased competition promises higher levels of teacher and school performance), intentions (teachers are selfish and self-serving), the nature and difficulty of the work of teaching (aims can be prescribed in advance and most anyone can teach), evidence of performance (test scores are meaningful representations of the essential school aims), the power of schooling (that setting school standards and tinkering with curricula resolves persistent social problems), and responsibility (teachers are wholly responsible for student learning). The driving assumptions of reform are grounded in a punishing rather than a positive psychology, a view fixated on weaknesses and deficits rather than on learning and building to strength. Reviewing this list, the author reflected on the lives of his father and his mother, his teaching career, and his wife and sister's lives. In doing so, he has realized how important it is to provide quality education for the young, how the issues of the times are linked to the troubles of teachers, and how important it is to portray these troubles accurately. The author contends that at this moment in time, as the lives of teachers are researched, there may be no more important task than championing the cause of teachers and making clear the connection between their well-being and the well-being of children.