Educators Join Largest Day of Action to Promote the Freedom to Read, Learn, and Teach

On June 8, educators, students, parents, and community members across the country joined the 4th annual Teach Truth Day of Action, taking part in book exchanges (including banned ones!), historic walks, voter registration drives, and more. The day of action and month-long series of events were coordinated by Rethinking Schools’ and Teaching for Change’s Zinn Education Project.

Michael Rebne of Kansas City was one such educator who took several actions that day.

As a high school physics teacher, Rebne gets to cover a lot of interesting and complex topics with his students. He makes sure they understand principles of electricity and magnetism and how they’re applied, among other concepts. Equally important, Rebne ensures his students learn about influential physicists of color and women physicists, including those who have been historically hidden or intentionally omitted from science books.

“So many of the laws, equations, and concepts that we teach are credited to white men, particularly white, European men,” Rebne says, emphasizing that “even Google searches are set up to make us believe—because of algorithms—that people of color and women don't do physics. With a little digging, we can find them.”

Rebne wants his students to see themselves reflected in important people who look like them. “If they're able to see themselves in the people they learn about and feel the information is relevant to them, maybe they’ll consider science as a future career path,” says the physics teacher of 17 years.

A more just society 

Rebne has participated in Teach Truth actions for the past four years to help continue his own learning about past and current forms of oppression and to fortify partnerships with community members.

The goal? Help students develop their understanding of the world and their ability to make meaningful change in it. Plus, continue to build power with parents and allies to stand against politicians who want to censor the truth about our nation’s history, pass laws that prevent students from learning the mistakes of the past, and erase leaders who have stood up to racism and changed the country for the better.

“For teachers to hear about stigmatized topics and from people who have lived certain experiences, it starts to open up space to learn and bring [those lessons] into our classrooms—and ultimately into our legislative advocacy to help provide students with the education they deserve,” says Rebne.

Events from coast to coast

Nearly 200 events in cities nationwide took place this year.

In Richmond, Va., for example, educators partnered with Black Lives Matter at School during a multicultural festival, sponsored by ReEstablish Richmond, where they gave away dozens of banned books.

In Arkansas, members of the Phillips County Retired Teachers Association helped organize a “Teach Truth” table to encourage dialogue around the dangers of censorship. They also held a teach-in about a local, historic figure: Eliza Ann Ross Miller, an African American entrepreneur and philanthropist who bought and donated land for a school so African American students could attend high school. 

“People in our community do not know the true story of how this [school] came to be. We are striving to tell the whole true story,” says Phyllis Hammonds, one of the event organizers.

And in California, Michael Rabin, an elementary school teacher in San Diego, planned several events that reached beyond the day of action.

He helped organize a “Teach Truth” rally outside of his school district; as well an information table during a Juneteenth ceremony and flag raising event, where attendees read from a selection of diverse books and signed posters that demand “Accurate History Matters” and “Representation Matters.”

Day of action 

Back in Kansas City, June 8 was packed with events that included teach-ins from members of a local Palestinian organization who shared their experiences with the war in Gaza; a historic walk to the Wyandot Nation Burying Ground, which was established after the forced migration of the Wyandot Nation from their homes near Upper Sandusky, Ohio; and a visit to a historic high school that served Black students during a time of legalized segregation. 

At the end of the day, state legislative experts gave a recap of proposed bills relating to education and social and racial justice, as well as the type of actions needed to support good policies and reject those that deny educators the tools and approaches needed to teach all students. These and other events included outreach for attendees to check their voter registration and register to vote to support NEA’s work around Freedoms to Learn, Read, Grow, and Thrive. 

Event organizers are planning to turn out in record numbers across race, place, and background to elect pro-public education leaders who provide the resources needed to meet every student’s needs, including well-trained and -supported educators; and who allow educators to teach honest, accurate curricula that impart the critical thinking skills students need to reckon with the past and shape the future. 

Pledge to teach the truth 

Event organizers and participants also used the day to raise awareness of the dangers of lying to students about the existence and persistence of structural and systemic racism, and all forms of oppression. The Teach Truth Day of Action helped to reaffirm their commitment to continue to uphold an honest and accurate history of Black, brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ people, as well as their contributions to the U.S—not only on June 8, but throughout the school year, too.