Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Sarah Buchholz | Littleton, MA
Marian Killian | Petaluma, CA
My K-12 education was a lie re: slavery. I was never taught about the dismantling of reconstruction via terror and segregationist institutions and policy. I was hoodwinked. I'm insulted and dehumanized by this patronizing sham.
Jessica Finch-Reid | Taunton, MA
It's important to learn about the true history even if it's difficult or uncomfortable because if we don't examine our past we are doomed to repeat it. There can be no progress without change and I want better for my children than the whitewashed version of history I was spoon fed.
Patrick McEvoy | Eatontown, NJ
if we do not face and address racism, bias, and mistakes of our past, we are creating a generation of students who will not know the reality. I cannot ignore facts from the past as a history teacher, and if our politicians can look in the mirror, and think ignoring the past is beneficial in respect to our country and citizens, then I encourage them to have a sit-down conversation with every teacher they represent in their state. History is not moving backwards; it is moving forward.
James Rogers | Walnut Creek, CA
Students know when teachers are not telling them the truth. If I shade parts of US history, I lose the learning community to all remaining lessons. Our students are smart and mature enough to learn history...actual history.
Sarah Emmett | Alexandria, VA
the truth is critical to understanding the past, present and the future!
Kristen Rose | Chula Vista, CA
All kids deserve the truth. Black/Mixed children are taught about race from an early age. Why are we keeping the truth from white children?
Catherine Szenasi | Albuquerque, NM
students need to know the ugly truth about History, not the glossy version in text books.
Dennis Quinn | St. Joseph, MO
I’m signing this because there’s confusion on God given rights vs man given rights. Self governance is being infringed upon and rule by law instead of run by man must be restored.
Jeannette Whitus | Burnet, TX
I am a teacher and I want to teach the correct information not someone's political agenda.
Kim Cozby | Burnet, TX
What's happening in our schools across our great country is abhorrent. My heart breaks for our youth. We need to stand up against these tyrannical liberals whose only goal is to break our country, using the minds and bodies of innocent children to pave their way.
Catherine Henderson | Granger, IN
Jill Wadycki-Cruz | Hobart, IN
Ashley Huff AS
I believe our history is important and we shouldn't hide the truth of it.
Lydia Miles , ID
As an educator and ally, I want to be intentional about addressing inequities in the school system and community in which I live. I commit to advocating for my students by using my voice in situations where the truth is not told, and creating a classroom where my students are given the opportunity to consider the truth. As the NEA states, “every student deserves a safe, welcoming, affirming learning environment,” and I believe that teaching the truth about people's history is a massive part of that.
Holly Bombria , CO
Facts matter. Even ugly and unpleasant facts.
Miriam Ezzani | Fort Worth, TX
I believe it's important to tell the truth. It's impossible to move forward with creating a better society so everyone can have quality of life when we're not willing to look at the systems and structures that have created generational gaps or disparities in education, economics, health, and more.
Jasmin Daigle-Arnold | Baton Rouge, LA
black and brown students deserve to know and understand why things are the way they are. It is crucial to their success that they are taught through an African American lens. In Eurocentric texts that are required across the state, BIPOC are portrayed as inferior, inhumane and often intimidating. That is not the version of history that these students need inorder to stop surviving and start thriving.
Brian Leonard | Worcester, MA
Barbara Van Eeckhout | Vashon, WA
-Ben Macko- , ME
Larry Johnson | Marysville, WA
Echo Westfall , WA
The truth matters and we have to have the lessons of the past available to us so we don't keep repeating the mistakes of history.
Kristen Brett | Oakland, CA
Anne McAndrew | Rochester, NY
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.