Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Michael Wood | San Jose, CA
Sarah Steffes | Meadville, PA
Jacqueline Ray | Apple Valley, CA
I will only teach Truth as Truth and theories will be taught as what they are, theory.
Danielle Newton | Tavares, FL
Tamara Russell | Groveland, FL
Dr. Karen Wieland | Salamanca, NY
Sally Ingram | Silver Spring, MD
Robin Dodder | Mesa, AZ
Marni Hebert | Muskego, WI
I am a resident of Muskego WI and I am very concerned about the legislation that is being proposed that would place restrictions on teachers and what they teach regarding history in our schools. I am a school nurse in Milwaukee WI. I have three daughters in the Muskego Norway School district and I want them to be able to discuss the truth when it comes to history lessons being discussed in the classroom. This includes uncomfortable history like slavery and stealing land from indigenous peoples, and the impacts these long-ago traumas have on descendants and communities today. Please don't pass these bills. I believe we need to look at our past and acknowledge the truth so we don't make the same mistakes again. I am happy that my children learn about I am against any bill that would prohibit allowing teachers, professors and instructors from teaching about race or sex stereotyping in Wisconsin’s K-12 public schools, independent charter schools or public universities and technical colleges.Thank you,
Terence Burke | Irvington, NY
I trust my student's ability to deal with the truth, to put the truth into context, and to decide for themselves what to think and feel about America and the world.
Valerie Shirley | Saint Paul, MN
Will always teach the truth, no matter what!#oppressedpeopleunite
Joslyn Hunscher-Young | Ann Arbor, MI
My mission as an educator is to provide my students with the tools and skills needed to be creative critical thinkers who dig deeply into complex problems, open minds to new possibilities, and make positive impacts and changes on their communities. Limiting their access to knowledge, understanding, and perspectives derails that mission and the success of our youth who are already making the world better each day.
John McTigue | Buffalo, NY
Katie Kelly | Greenville, SC
Shawn Matson | Madison, WI
Laurel Smith | Zuni, NM
I teach truth. I refuse to teach anything else. I am an educator. Teaching truth is fundamental to student engagement.
Joseph Odom | Robeline, LA
Students deserve the truth. The WHOLE truth. Perhaps if the truth was known there wouldn't be so much turmoil in our country today.
Doogie Howser | Beverly Hills, CA
Jennifer Kenney | Monroe, NH
Carla McEachern | Silver Spring, MD
Sarah Griesinger | Grand Rapids, MI
James Moran | Canby, OR
Erin Wood | Santa Cruz, CA
Mary Cullen | Minneapolis, MN
Meg Herlofsky | Seattle, WA
To: State LegislatorsFrom: Meg HerlofskyWe, the undersigned educators, refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events — regardless of the law.
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.