Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Caroline Gannon | Rotonda West, FL
I neither wish to hide behind the truth nor lie to future generations
Jodi Blue | Forest Grove, OR
I value truth, history, and ALL our students.
Nurit Stites | Reno, NV
I will not lie to my students about American history of racism, sexism, bigotry, anti semitism, anti- LGBTQ, xenophobia, and suppression of communities and entities.
Julia Palazzi | Chandler, AZ
Laura Paul | Seaford, NY
Cooper Simmons | Cincinnati, OH
I pledge to teach the truth and an educators purpose is someone who leades others out of ignorance.
William Puishys | Brookfield, MA
Truth must overcome lies
Rachel Andres | Redwood City, CA
Our children deserve schooling based in truth.
Carol LaVallee | Sarasota, FL
I teach only the truth!
Deb Witt | Vienna, VA
Understanding how we got here is the only way we will move forward.
Marley McClune | Ogden, UT
My students deserve the truth!
Reid Fore | Forest Lake, MN
I make this pledge because only the truth will allow us to make progress as a nation, as a community, and as individuals. As the saying goes, "Those who do not understand history are condemned to repeat it."
Green Clare | Oakland, CA
NICOLE ENTWISTLE | Takoma Park, MD
I believe children need to learn the truth in order to change the racist systems our country is based upon.
Steven Ernsky | Tucson, AZ
Marianne King | Downers Grove, IL
Alana Murray | Elkridge, MD
Julia Leonard | Davenport, IA
The idea that teachers should be limited in what they teach based on an incorrect perception of 'critical race theory' is unacceptable and also a very thinly veiled attempt to avoid huge swaths of American history and its role in persistent racist behaviors as a culture and as individuals.
Elizabeth Israel-Davis | Portland, OR
my students deserve the truth. They deserve to see their culture and language as an asset. They deserve to know that their families and ancestors built the wealth and power of this nation and that they deserve that wealth and power fully. They deserve to see the systems which were purposely built to keep them from that wealth and power so that they can dismantle them. I will teach the truth for this generation so that they can teach it to generations to come.
Chuck Goetz | Baltimore, MD
I believe the study of history requires knowing the good and the bad of the past because both are still influencing the present and will continue to influence the future. I am privileged to teach in an independent school that believes in this vision as well but am signing this petition to support my fellow history educators who work in places that would like to sugarcoat the past by restricting what knowledge of the past can be taught to students.
Melissa Hauke | Falls Church, VA
How can we change the future if we don't understand the policies, beliefs and ideas that brought us to the present?
Robert Gotwals | Durham, NC
Teachers need to be able to address difficult issues in the classroom
Emma Dickinson | Reno, NV
I feel this cause is really important. The lack of critical thinking and open, scientific education is a real threat to our democracy.
Padriag Mahoney | Cranston, RI
Chyanne Smith | El Paso, TX
Talking about race in my classes is important to helping my students think critically about the society they live in so that when they graduate they 1. Aren't shocked to find out that school sugar coated the truth and 2. So that they can be the change they want to see in the world.
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.