Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Hannah Morris | Greensboro, NC
It is unavoidable when teaching ANY subject or topic that someone will feel uncomfortable. In fact, discomfort is the place where learning happens. School is not about comfort, it's about learning. These current attempts to legislate student comfort/discomfort in school because of the fear that we are "indoctrinating" our students to think critically about history and current events is not only absurd but harmful. I am also signing because these planned laws are an insult to the teaching profession. Legislatures are only showing the disdain and distrust they have of teachers to do the job for which they have degrees and licenses. Legislators are not the education experts and should leave the teaching to teachers.
Lauren Long | San Francisco, CA
students deserve to learn the truth
Gayatri Sethi | Atlanta, GA
#teachtruth
Lillian Baker | Fayetteville, NC
I am proud to teach African American history. When I am teaching US history I make sure that my Black students see the courage, determination, and genius of our people. I do not want another Black child to think that African Americans made no contribution to the development of the US.
Crystal Wyatt | Annapolis, MD
Valerie Brooks | KETCHIKAN, AK
only in teaching the true and accurate history of this country can we empower students to impact their communities, with knowledge and truth.
Gina Szulkowski | Chicago, IL
Maureen Henzel | Mendon, MA
I am a teacher and students deserve and expect the truth from their teachers.
James Nieto
I believe in truth, justice, snd the New American Way in the year 2021.
Autumn Laidler | Chicago, IL
All of our children deserve to know the full truth of history.
Jason Perkins | Chicago, IL
Catherine Hudson | Annapolis, MD
I believe equity and justice cannot be achieved without knowing and acknowledging the hard truths about ourselves and our history.
Anton Miglietta | Chicago, IL
It’s past time!!!!
Lisa Levi | Rochester, MN
oppression and systematic racism has gone on too long. I have done my part to embrace all children, but more needs to be done at a higher level.
Stacy Schmidt | Des Moines, IA
My students have the right to a fact-based, critical examination of our country and world. The (yes, problematic) founders of our country recognized the need for an educated citizenry, one not swayed by demogoguery or propaganda. The health of our democracy depends on students understanding all aspects of our country's past, not just those that paint a pretty picture.
Eli Foster | Nashville, TN
All students need to know the accurate history about where we have come from, so we can forge a more equitable path to where we are going.
Elizabeth Tanner | Mesa, AZ
I love my students. I refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events.
Angelica Redmond , MO
Roseanne Dennler | Chicago, IL
We cannot change what we won't acknowledge.
Kristen Norgard | Kansas City, MO
Black lives matter!! We need to be teaching the truth and I refuse to lie to my students!
Alan Hagedorn | Greenwood, IN
Sarah Knoll | Kansas City, MO
My students deserve to know the truth.
Kimberly Hunter | Kansas City, MO
Love and healing require truth. Also, I follow Jesus, who teaches “truth will set you free.”
Ashly Emerson | Kansas City, MO
I want to be an honest educator. I want to teach the truth to and about my community.
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.