Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Kaylee Kagiavas , PA
Lauren A | Newark, CA
I support equity and Justice.
Christal Bailey | Tacoma, WA
banning books is a slippery slope. If this is allowed, burning books will be next.
Melinda Peters | Port Orchard, WA
The truth matters.
Kathleen Schlenz | Salem, MA
...“Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.” ~Bell Hooks
Matthew Haver | Port Orchard, WA
Critical thinking and a realistic, historically accurate view of the past is the only thing that will keep fascism at bay - and protect future generations from making the same mistakes their ancestors did. The role of the educator is to help students learn to think for themselves based on accurate representations of the world, not tell them what to believe. Truth doesn't change because it's banned or ignored - it will prevail, but we must stay vigilant.
Malyssa Oblander | Iowa City, IA
Meredith Scherrer | Snohomish, WA
My 4-year-old students deserve to live in a healthier society than what is currently available. It is my kuleana/responsibility to give them the tools to create that society. Knowledge of history, democracy, and communication skills are the core of those tools.
Louise Bukrey | Bremerton, WA
It is crazy wrong to ban DAP. I believe one must stand up for a just and fair world.
Sarah Roberts | Bremerton, WA
To ban books is to silence the voices of the people. Our nation claims it is the land of the free but continues to silence the voices of America's people. Our children deserve to hear the stories of the many instead of the filtered few.
Warren Johnson | Sammamish, WA
Shankara Getchonis | Las Vegas, NV
I am a pre-service teacher who believes that youth should be given the truth and tools to make society better.
Jodi Greene , PA
I refuse to lie to my students.
Sam Diener | Waltham, MA
Education should foster liberation, not repression.
Nicole Beall | New York, NY
Our country needs to do better
ilana friedman | Beacon, NY
Telling the truth is important if we want a future filled responsible and wise citizens and leaders.
Christa Fletcher | Dallas, TX
It is imperative to keep our actual history available to our children! We cannot erase suffering because we want to believe it didn’t happen. Even homeschoolers are under fire here! I will not kowtow to aggression against the truth anywhere be it public, private, or in home education.
Luke Vaughn | Springfield, MO
Tirzah Camacho
We have to model that another way is possible & that we care about every student and their particular needs and survival.
Michael Cadaret | Swissvale, PA
Teaching truth liberates us from ignorance and allows our students to see themselves in history, in the stories of others, and gain self love and understanding of others.
Skye Murphy | Mill Valley, CA
It is imperative that students learn the truth about American history and the racist, imperialist, genocidal foundations of our economy and public institutions. Freedom cannot exist when knowledge is repressed.
Christina Noyes | Wappingers Falls, NY
I didn't learn the truth of our country's history in school and I don't want to make that same mistake with my students.
Sheila Connors | Amherst, NY
we should not be afraid to teach the truth of history. It is important for students to understand the past in order to become individuals who help forge a more fair present and future.
Bryanna Mendez | Clifton, NJ
I refuse to lie to my students. They deserve to learn about their history and understand how history affects their lives today.
Nancy Sullivan | Portland, OR
I've dedicated my life to providing essential access to information so students can become the just citizens we all need them to be.
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.