Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
David Thwaits | St. Thomas, ON, CA
Here in Canada, we are just only now beginning to become aware of the TRUTH that happened to our indigenous children in what our government once called schools... schools and teachers MUST teach the TRUTH so that all can learn that "EVERY Child MATTERS".
Ann Milton | Tampa, FL
my students live the consequences of history.
Curtis O'Brien | Derwood, MD
It's the right thing to do. Some of the most important people in history would be lost if we don't, and the lessons of the past need to be learned so the mistakes are not repeated.
Michelle Behnfeldt | Riverdale, MD
to keep the mistakes from happening we MUST teach the truth. Otherwise, we doom our students to repeating it.
Dana T | New York, NY
We should teach real history to children
Michael Schulman | Brooklyn, NY
Jesse Gluckman | Collegeville, PA
Amy Zanghi | Portland, ME
Education is about sharing knowledge, not mis-information. Students deserve to learn history from different perspectives, and the history of this country includes much more than the conquests and successes of white men. How can things get better if we don't teach them how the problems were created in the first place? Racism isn't an individual problem. It's a systemic problem, and can't be changed if we leave that crucial information out of students education.
Barbara Isham
Cynthia Larkin | Atlanta, GA
I refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events.
sarah clark | Hayward, CA
We can’t learn from our history and become a more just society if we don’t teach our actual history. We owe our students the truth; our democracy depends on it.
Rebecca Dumeyer | Portland, OR
Living, loving, nurturing society can only be successful if we understand, examine, and learn truth.
Janet Graff | Pasadena, CA
I have always taught hard truth at every grade level, and helped my students understand truth from multiple perspectives.
Liza Wallace | Northridge, CA
Virginia Rose | Rainier, OR
School Counselors tell the truth. As we can see from those turning to autocracies and dictatorships, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Without it, democracies die. Students deserve the truth. Without it, they cannot make fully-informed decisions. Without it, they cannot become global citizens who care about themselves, others, the Earth, and their future. We all deserve the truth and need to hear it. We lie to ourselves and others at our own peril (ie. climate deniers, anti-vaxers, etc.)
Kyna Brockett | Sherwood, OR
I want my students to better understand themselves and others. This begins with understanding our history and ways people have been effected by it.
Jessie Liu | Berkeley, CA
As a doctor invested in our current and future society, it is critical that this next generation of citizens know the truth about systemic racism and its origins in historical events. In the way that I discuss diagnoses and treatments honestly and transparently with my patients so that they may make the best health decisions for themselves, we need to be arming citizens with accurate information so that they may choose to act in society that is aligned with their values and principles. It is CRITICAL that we teach the truth in history to students.
Ben Eiseman | San Rafael, CA
Our students need to know the truth.
Jenny Cheng | Pleasant Hill, CA
Diane Yacenda | Bronx, NY
Noemi S | San Diego, CA
Teaching history and discussing current events are opportunities for students to learn about themselves, their communities, helping others and that equality is a right they have and can fight for when needed. It’s important that all students, especially students of color learn about abolitionists, unionizers, and other POC leaders to see themselves as not just oppressed but as change makers. I love my students and want to teach them about kindness, standing up for themselves and for others. Teaching history is a great way to do so.
Elena Jaime | Brooklyn, NY
learning about justice and those who fight for it allows all children to reclaim their humanity.
Kimberly Constable | West Nyack, NY
Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it!
Holly Hammerle | Bloomfield Hills, MI
Vladimir Ulyanov | Saint Petersburg, FL
It is important to teach our youth to voluntarily give up their freedoms for the passed bad acts of their ancestors. The only way to put right all these wrongs is for the youth to be taught how bad things were in the past. The only reason those in the lower classes are there is because of these actions. Words, acceptance, reparation's are not enough the the upper class must become the enslaved. To reach a socialist utopia we must empower those in the lower class and only the "truth" as we teach it can reach our goal.
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.