Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Kathleen Schlenz | Salem, MA
I want to help dismantle structural racism at all levels of education and throughout our very broken health care system.
Donna Cook | Saint Louis, MO
I committed to teaching the truth during my 25 year teaching career. I’ve since come to realize we left out so much of our history and often did not give students an accurate understanding of the systemic injustice and racism that has existed throughout American History. I stand with educators throughout our country who seek to teach the truth, to teach all of America’s story.
Jonathan Bryant | Houston, TX
The great Ida B. Wells said it best, "The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them."
Alan Wallach | Washington, DC
Narrowing or eliminating academic freedom is a crime. Forcing teachers not to teach the truth as they understand it is a crime. My father was a high school teacher in NYC and was witch hunted during the McCarthy period. I know the terrible toll persecution takes on teachers, their families, their colleagues, and their students.
Jon Weissman | Holyoke, MA
F Elias | Woodridge, IL
The US cannot move forward, bathed in ignorance, and subjected to violent backlash because of fear and ignorance.We who wish to teach the People's History intend for the young people we have in our classrooms, to know ALL history. It is one of the key means for building a more just, inclusive and sustainable country.
Joe Toma | Colonia, NJ
Liz Bougher | Hilliard, OH
Rachel Maeroff | Sacramento, CA
Tabby Evans GB
Corinne Wenz | St Louis, MO
As a both a parent and a teacher, I know the feeling of wanting to do all I can to protect our children. This blindly leads us to believe if our children don't "see" the harsh reality they won't know it exist and live happily ever after. Though we are constantly telling our children to be honest. To live with integrity. To be a good person. How can we teach those lessons, but then lie about what their peers are living through. We must find a way to protect ALL children. We must be truthful in ALL aspects of life. It is only then we can you be safe. Lean into the discomfort.
Isabel A | Charlottesville, VA
Claire Banaszak
We can’t hide from the past or it will be repeated. No matter how uncomfortable and hard it is, we need to learn about it.
Toni Elzia | Homewood, IL
The truth needs to be known.
Kiara Baxter | Blacksburg, VA
I believe in teaching the truth.
C A | Schenectady, NY
Sydney Begin | Chesapeake, VA
Tyler Alberico | Clifton, VA
Students deserve access to knowledge that hasn’t been tainted by the interest of nationalist groups.
Anja Hall | Chesapeake, VA
NOT ONLY IS THE BANNING OF THESE EDUCATIONAL CONCEPTS IGNORANT, BUT DANGEROUS. WHEN A GOVERNMENT OR POLITICAL SCHOOL OF THOUGHT STARTS TO RESTRICT EDUCATION, HISTORY IS BOUND TO REPEAT ITSELF. OPINIONS ON CRITICAL RACE THEORY MAY BE CONTROVERSIAL, BUT ESSENTIALLY BANNING CIVIC EDUCATION AND ERASING THE STRUGGLES OF AMERICAN MINORITIES IS AN ACT OF RACIAL AND SEX-BASED VIOLENCE AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH.
Raina Williams | Minneapolis, MN
Judith Van Erden | Glen Ellyn, IL
I am concerned about censorship and people who are frightened of perspectives other than their own. It's my hope that through measured and respectful discourse, minds can be opened and fear abated. No one should fear the truth; we should only seek to learn and improve from it.
Kara Viesca | Lincoln, NE
The truth will set us free.
Ana Ocasio
Ashley Brewster | Durham, NC
I never learned complete history in school and I refuse to keep my kids from knowing truth.
Brian Wheatley | San Jose, CA
If Black and brown children are old enough to experience racism, White kids are old enough to learn about it!
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.