Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Francisco Gonzalez | San Juan, TX
Mishele Barnetf | Puyallup, WA
Jill Weiler | Washington, DC
I believe the only way to disrupt our current transmission of injustices through schooling in the US is through a transformative pedagogy that teaches students the truth about this country's history--the resistance as well as the oppression and violence--and equips students' to empower themselves to create a world that exemplifies the values of a true democracy.
Andrew Faulstich | Silver Spring, MD
Only by providing for students a multifaceted view of American history can they critically examine and act to change our country for the better. It is un-American to restrict what can be taught; rather we need to trust our students that they will be able to use their knowledge of our complete (and not always pretty) history for positive aims.
Kari Lehman | Chicago, IL
I believe that teaching the truth is imperative to eradicating white supremacy and racism, while also creating equity and instituting reparations., and liberation for people of color from the historical and present day systems of oppression.
Rita Dogbo | Washington, DC
Monique Velazquez | New York, NY
Carol Flora | Lincoln, NE
Louisa Pregerson | Brooklyn, NY
We cannot move forward with lies or denial about the past
Princess'Imani Dawson | Laurel, MD
“One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” – Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 1963 We, the undersigned educators, refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events.
Maureen Stewart | Brooklyn, NY
students need to be critical thinkers by examining history through many experiences, perspectives, and lenses. Historically, there has been racial oppression and this oppression still exists today which students deserve to know in order to enact change.
Maggie Sermont | Chicago, IL
Calvin Eaton | Rochester, NY
I am committed to the facts.
Annalise Fox | Washington, DC
Tara Winchester | St. Cloud, CA
I would like more resources on how to supplement my children's public school education with historically accurate and honest information about U.S. and world history. I want my children to have more information, at an earlier age, than what I was exposed to in K-12.
Adeola Oredola | Providence, RI
Janelle Kesner | Manchester, MA
Farima Pour-Khorshid | Hayward, CA
Mary Vlandis | Garden City, ID
I strongly believe this history serves a purpose. We must embrace all of American history.
Julee Reese | Brookfield, MO
I will not stop teaching the truth about our history.
Newman Clarke | Altadena, CA
Like Boots Riley sang, “ If your school won't show you how to fight for what's neededThen they're training you to go through life and get cheated.”
Eric Mar | San Francisco, CA
Bradley Mautz | San Jose, CA
I believe that the truth should be taught and heard. We must be able to think critically founded in the truth.
Cynthia Mochowski | Gloucester , MA
I am a public school teacher, and it is not only my job to teach the truth, but is what I personally believe in.
Dana Kamerling | Chicago, IL
I believe it is essential for students to be taught the truth about our country's history.
Selected Pledges
Click on pledge below to read many more.
As an educator who is serious about teaching the truth I will not be bullied into silence. I will do my part in the fight for equity and equality by making sure my students are most equipped to fight this ugliness in the real world.
Yes, the truth of American history needs to be taught, but also its impact on the rest of the world, such as its role in WWII. I just finished teaching a college-level course on the Holocaust, and could not believe how little the students knew about the rest of the world’s participation in the war! They seemed to believe that WWII was ended by the US alone!
“When you begin to do things that raise the achievement of the poorest and disenfranchised students, you may not always get applause. You need to be ready for that.” Dr. Asa Hilliard
“Resistance is a powerful motivator precisely because it enables us to fulfill our longing to achieve our goals while letting us boldly recognize and name the obstacles to those achievements.”
Dr. Derrick Bell
Our young people deserve the truth and it is our kuleana (responsibility) to give space and opportunity for the truth and the difficult conversations.
If we don’t teach it all, we teach nothing…
Social justice is a major theme of my Humanities 7 course, and my school uses Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s HILL framework (development of identity, skills, knowledge, Criticality) to frame our entire curriculum. Student agency through research work and essay writing, and action-oriented civic engagement work, define what we “cover” in my course.