Why Do Certain Teachers Insist They Be Referred to as "Educators"?

I'm in town visiting my father and went with him to a monthly city hall meeting. He's the city attorney for one of our great Louisiana towns (small town, nothing fancy).

One of the topics on the agenda was some proposed bond measure that involved funding a certain project at the local high school. In response to the proposal, my father just had a few questions to ask the proponents to clarify some particulars about how the money was to be spent.

A 40-something black woman takes the podium as the purported expert on the proposal. To clarify that she was a teacher at the local school, my father asked her if she was a teacher, simply so he would know who he was talking to. She replied tersely 'No, I am an edu-ca-tor'.

I think he felt bad, but he couldn't help but give a slightly audible chuckle. This woman then proceeded to ramble incoherently for 20 minutes about how the 'edu-ca-tors' help the 'yooths' and so-forth, not really leaving anyone with a better understanding of what the measure would include.

Anyway, this is not the first time I've heard some of our finest Louisiana public school teachers refer to themselves as educators, as if it was some sacred title that required special certification beyond the likely low-bar to teach at some of our schools.

Have you heard this before?