Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Barbara Alexander | Chicago, IL
I have moral obligation to teach the truth. I cannot in good faith ignore history and events, or misrepresent history and events. It is that simple.
Craig Meyer | Chanhassen, MN
Indoctrination of kids with lies, half-truths, or condescending nonsense is not something we should be doing in public schools, but unfortunately that has been been done plenty in SocialStudies.
Angela Chan | Philadelphia, PA
Anneliese Steuben-Maiye | Vashon, WA
I will never stop teaching for justice, equity, and anti-racism!
Emmanuel Carrera | Jenkintown, PA
“I for one believe that if you give people a thorough understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it, they’ll create their own program, and when the people create a program, you get action.”— Malcolm X
John Tramel | Kansas City, MO
I know that we all need to be liberated from a cultural of white supremacy that is physically, mentally, and emotionally dangerous and damaging to Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color and is deteriorating the souls of white people.
Micah Wittmer | Watertown, MA
if we are ever to move forward as a country and live up to our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, we must learn from our past. Our children need to understand our whole history so that they can grow up to be changemakers.
Jennifer De Lisi | Katonah, NY
Chuck Stark | Chicago, IL
Conversations about race should be honest. Banning these kinds of discussions in classrooms are coercive.
Aisha Eubanks | Philadelphia, PA
It is not critical race theory in k-12 it is called being Culturally Responsive and teaching truth based history which is based on systemic racism. I plan to continue doing just that.
Elizabeth Mounteer | Kansas City, MO
Our students deserve the truth.
Josh Heideman | Fishers, IN
You either teach history authentically or you are simply spreading falsehoods. Students need to be informed on human stories and the horrors of history to promote healing and develop better futures for all.
David Guss | Yorkville, IL
Children should be taught actual History and not someone's made up Theory.
Kurt Ahrens | Philadelphia, PA
Learning from the past (in science and the humanities) requires a critical assessment of evidence. Since race has been a divisive and significant issue since the beginning of European colonization of the Americas, we must acknowledge and consider the role race has played in our history and the shaping of our present society. Ignorance might be bliss, but knowledge is power!
Tessa Benner | Dayton, OH
Students deserve to be taught the truth.
Dan Kalleres | Newbury, OH
I believe it is of the utmost importance to teach history in a multicultural way, rather than the typical Western European, colonialist way that I was taught in school as a child.
Susan Andree | Portland, OR
It is so important that we protect the ability of teachers to engage in culturally responsive teaching. This includes honest history, cultural vocabulary, and affirming that all children are safe, seen, valued, and feel that they belong.
Erica Stefanovich | Philadelphia, PA
US history is not always happy or good. Avoiding complex human stories in favor of simplified deification of the past robs children of the ability to think critically about the past and creates a less analytical populace.
Sarah Duenas | Philadelphia, PA
Chanelle Harley | Bellmead, TX
I believe in educating our students with relevant and factual information.
Andrew Habana Hafner | Westfield, MA
David Hensel | Springfield, PA
I saw the list of excellent educators who pledged to the truth on some right wing website. I also want to teach the truth to our students and be included on stand with so many incredible teachers and friends.
Sam Gartzman | Chicago, IL
Rhonda Feder | Elkins Park, PA
I teach the history of democracy in America. It’s a challenging history, but students must know good, the bad, and the ugly in order to appreciate our country, to criticize intelligently, and to be prepared to take their place as adults in our society. How can anyone work to make the United States “a more perfect Union” if they don’t understand the truth of our history?
Lynne Breitenstein-Aliberti | Alexandria, VA, VA
it is important that we can teach accurate history about the injustices of the past so that we can ensure not to repeat the same horrors!
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.