Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Andrew White | Burtonsville, MD
We cannot move forward if we are hiding our past
Keri Troehler | Portland, OR
I don't want students to actually live in George Orwell's 1984.
Jason Cohen | Bensalem, PA
I will not sit idly by and watch as fascist elements undermine the education system in our country. As a teacher of humanities - specifically US History - it is my job to provide resources and materials that allow students to uncover the truth of this country's racist and genocidal past and present so that we can all work to create a better future for ALL Americans.
Marita Beachy-Owusu | Cincinnati, OH
Only from acknowledging the truth of our history can we learn from it, restore justice and be better and progress as a society. The true history of each student’s identity deserves and needs to be taught. Our students deserve more. They deserve the truth and we need to hold ourselves accountable for the true history of this country and the lives it’s built upon.
Timothy Bechtel | Lancaster Twp, PA
We must teach truth
Linden Higgins | Burlington, VT
Only through consideration of context and diverse points of view can we come to address the long-standing systemic racism in science and other fields of human knowledge.
Alexis Stubbe | Rochester, NY
Erica Talbot | Cleveland, OH
Astrid Riecken | Washington, DC
Renee Mottaz | Indio, CA
History is necessary for a Democracy.
Lianne Prentice | South Tamworth, NH
Our school was founded on the concepts of open dialogue, critical thinking, and respect. We could not fulfill our mission if we chose elements of our nation’s history to ignore.
Gina Morgan | Los Angeles, CA
Suzanne Amenta | Ottawa, ON, CA
Because I'm an American citizen living abroad watching in horror as my fellow Americans ignorantly, pro-actively, and aggressively sell our democracy downstream. It's easy to sign my name as I work in a Canadian school in a Canadian school board which is taking full action to teach everyone how to be anti-racist and how to be equitable and just. Educators need to put themselves at risk, hold on tight to their moral compasses, and include everyone's voices and everyone's experiences in our history.
Susan Ohanian | Charlotte, VT
Those who cannot understand the past are condemned to repeat it.
Christopher Pagliarini | Baltimore, MD
Terri Richmond | Bakersfield, CA
Truth matters. We only go backward with lies.
Dale Fritch | Austin, TX
JH Gerhard | Nokesville, VA
I refuse to let Republicans censor me in my classroom.
Rose Arthur | Brockton, MA
Children should be taught the truth.
John Sarkissian | Youngstown, OH
Majella van der Werf | Baltimore, MD
Marjorie Hanft | Charleston, IL
Years of teaching crisis intervention, in which I addressed issues of historical trauma and listened to the history of my students, many of whom had dealt with either systemic racism and/or anti-LGBTQ educational curricula, taught me the importance of the kind of curricula that the Missouri bill seeks to ban.
Kelsey Rodriguez | Cedar Park, TX
History must be retold- Truthfully for the growth and change of the next generations
RachelRachel Kaiser | Conshohocken, PA
I am a teacher and I can’t do my job of teaching the truth without including these prohibited topics. Do not outlaw the truth about the history of the United States for e. We will be damned to repeat it.
Tom Lucy | Saint Paul, MN
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.