Signatures
This is the list of people who have signed the pledge or petition to date.
Shankara Getchonis | Las Vegas, NV
I believe truth is integral to fostering autonomy, compassion, radical love, and radical care in students. Understanding one's place in the world sometimes comes with understanding the history of the place in which we currently live. Shifting the focus from individualized to community lead comes with having uncomfortable yet honest conversations with one another, rooted in love and care, where there is always a soft place to land, free from judgement, and there is always room for learning and growth. I refuse to censor history, I will not lie to my students, I will always teach the truth.
Andrew Cho | Phoenix, AZ
My state is eliminating SEL on the grounds that racial equity should not be taught. I refuse to hold back information, skills, and experiences that will empower my students to succeed in a world where so many oppressions exist against them.
Bethany Myers | New Orleans, LA
My children and I deserve a better America. White Americans can't keep the truth hidden forever. This country was built on the backs of "stolen people from Africa".
Maria Wong | San Jose, CA
We need to tell what really happened so future generations will know how to prevent genocide
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.
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.