Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Paula Hinchliffe
This is so important. Kids need to learn the truth
Robin Wildman | South Kingstown, RI
I've always taught the truth to my students. They were more thoughtful, empathetic, civic-minded individuals because of this. It's our duty as educators to bring to light the atrocities of the past and present, so that we can truthfully educate young people who will be the politicians and voters of tomorrow.
Molly Wolf | Baltimore, MD
It is our duty as educators to teach the FACTS and TRUTH of our nation's history!
Michele Gaston | Shawnee, KS
Because history is not negotiable. Whether it be the Indians the slaves racismEtc. Children should be taught the truth. “Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.” Edmund Burke
David Egly | Spokane, WA
There is no one "history" - there are many "histories", many lived experiences by different individuals & peoples throughout history as well as today. I strive to honor those histories by helping students understand past events and movements through many different perspectives. In this way, we get closer to the truth about our past and are able to see our present with a more nuanced vision.
Amanda Powell | Buxton, ME
Alice Drayton | Annapolis, MD
Brooke Starr | Plymouth Meeting, PA
Teaching the truth matters. It is our responsibility to be honest about our past if we want to build a better future.
Aide Vasquez | Whittier, CA
Vivian Bush | North Hollywood, CA
The truth will set you free, and I take a stand with the teachers and educators of America.
Rachel Skinner | Winters, CA
Students of all ages should have access to Truth, both historic and current. Access to truth and history and information is a key to democracy.
Amber Lowe | Boston, MA
Children have the right to know the truth, they can understand the complexities of history (and present day), and they have the capacity to think critically about it and make their own meaning and understandings about the world they live in and how they want to impact and change that world.
Holly Hennick-Marroquin | Boston, MA
Linda Touchette | Granby, CT
Monika Nolen | West Memphis, AR
The students demand we share all sides of the story. They are craving to make educated conclusions based upon facts. In a time when social media seems to control "information", the future is curious and actually wanting straight forward answers. The subject I disliked the most in school- history- now I teach it. I knew I was not getting all the stories. People in this country know less about the history than any other people in any other industrialized country. Why? Forward thinking people know the whitewashed version in the majority of text books is biased and formatted for one group. We want the younger generation to learn ownership. Let's show them we can accept responsibility for all people's roles in the creation of this country. Once we do that...we can sincerely begin the dialogue to make real changes.
Cara Will | Alexandria, VA
KC Perley | Corvallis, OR
I believe wholeheartedly in teaching the story of history, of humanity, in it's entirety. It's our history and it's critical we acknowledge the past so we can work towards a better future. The definition of indoctrination, as I share with my students, is NOT questioning something and being told to accept the narrative.
Moskoula Harisiadis | Bronx, NY
Our students need to know the truth.
kathy seipp | Minneapolis, MN
I have always worked on trying to teach human rights and letting students discuss issues in their lives and in the world......
Brittany Doucette | Santa Rosa, CA
Students deserve to be taught the truth. Learning and speaking the truth about U.S. history is imperative to making change. It is also empowering, valuing, and honoring all who have been continuously marginalized and oppressed throughout the history of this country, all while it was built by their sweat, pain, and loss.
Jennifer Walker | Hanover, MD
Rick Dumont | Natick, MA
Students deserve to know the whole truth about American history... both the good and the bad.
Suzanne Cooper | Portland, OR
We have a responsibility to teach true history so that we help raise children who can change our unjust world!
Kate Morton | Boston, MA
Children have a right to the truth. How can we expect them to make good choices for the future if we lie to them about the past?
DANI GRAF | MILWAUKEE, WI
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.