Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Beth Gardner | Portland, OR
We have to learn from the mistakes we have made if we hope to avoid repeating them in the future. Only when we are honest about the state of things can we improve them for our historically marginalized communities.
Kaon Suh | Irvine, CA
Megan Barringer | Monroe, NC
I am signing my name because, I care for my students and their education!
Ingrid Semien | Maurice, LA
Rachel Pendergast | Seattle, WA
It is my duty to teach the truth and raise our children so they know the truth and make this world better. It is my duty to leave the world a better place than the way I found it.
Angeline Zalben | Seattle, WA
Molly O'Neil | Seattle, WA
Let's get the authentic history of America out there! Ethnic Studies Now!!
Lora Worden | Portland, OR
our students deserve, not only to learn the truth about our history, but to learn to critically evaluate information so they can decide for themselves what is accurate, what is reliable, what is authentic. Our students need critical thinking skills to be active, engaged, and informed citizens in our democracy. Additionally, our students deserve to hear from multiple perspectives in historical and contemporary events (in all stories and all areas of life!). This helps our students develop empathy, which is also an essential skill. Our students deserve to hear the whole story of our history so they can decide for themselves how they think and feel about it and decide for themselves what kind of citizen they want to be and what kind of country they want.
Lauren Litle | Spring, TX
We shouldn’t shelter students from the truth or try to inhibit their formation of critical thinking skills. If we start censoring here, where does it end?
April Wyche | Lake Park, NC
Teaching the truth is the only way to expose the lies.
Jaime Brody | La Habra, CA
In order to learn from history, we need to know it.
King Chan | Los Angeles, CA
We need to stand strong for education reasons and our family values of everyone getting a knowledgeable worldly education.
Kathryn Lafever | Hamilton, OH
We should teach the truth.
Katherine Volin | Philadelphia, PA
Lori DiCenzo Carter | Charlotte, NC
All students deserve the opportunity to learn about the contributions their ancestors made to the United States. If we hope to end systemic racism and oppression, white students in particular need to learn the truth of our nation’s history before we can ever hope to make change.
Lori Stahl-Van Brackle | Ozone Park, NY
I am signing in solidarity. Truth can not be silenced in this country anywhere!
Daniel Woleslagle | Williamsport, PA
Every student deserves the truth. Denying our students the whole story enforces racism and denies representation for all groups. It’s time for all student voices to be present in the classroom.
Sebastian Castillo | Long Beach, CA
Lack of access to knowledge will keep this cycle going longer than it needs to, change today leaves hope for tomorrow
Misty Bennett | Las Vegas, NV
I teach facts and I refuse to lie. Teaching is not about staying comfortable.
Rebecca Kleinbart | New York, NY
Students deserve the truth! I teach for a more just society, not a more comfortable society for white people.
Audrey Melzer | Oberlin, OH
Any education must include facts and critical thought. To legislate that educators should not be allow to teach our students and challenge them is to deny them a proper education that will able them to be future leaders who will learn from the past. I refuse to teach inaccuracies. I refuse to have yet another part of my profession undermined by people who have no training and no expertise.
Joshua Aguilar | Long Beach, CA
Well im signing because im a student that had taken this class and it has impacted my daily living and how i jnteract with others in a good way. So i feel if this were to stop being taught there would be a bigger problem in society.
Falica McClain | Los Angeles, CA
Because the truth MUST be revealed! How will children K-12 learn about systemic and institutionalized racism if they cannot recognize it's passive and subtle forms?
Cheryl Thompson | Doswell, VA
History helps us recognize and learn from our mistakes. We must tell the whole truth if we want our children to believe in democracy.
Jenny Jacobs | Jamaica Plain, MA
Understanding systems of oppression activates student learning.
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.