Building an informed, multiracial democracy doesn’t happen all at once. It happens everyday. It happens when teachers, students, and family members who care about their communities connect civic learning to the future of their lives, their local regions. It happens when students speak out about issues that matter in their lives like mental health. It happens when parents attend their local school board meeting.

At a time when social studies in K-12 education is under attack, we believe that educators and students, parents and district personnel, need to know that thousands of people have their back. That a broad-based community of people want civics and government classes to tackle the hard issues — talking about race and place, building consensus from diverse viewpoints, envisioning solutions for the common challenges we all face.

In order to realize the diverse, inclusive America we all deserve, we pledge to support Equity in Civics and commit to one or more of the following actions in 2022:

• Thank teachers and administrators at my child’s school for providing high quality civics education, honest history and/or culturally relevant education;
• Attending school board and PTA meetings;
• Writing about the value of culturally relevant democracy education in K-12 in local newspaper and outlets;
• Encourage school districts to issue resolutions that overcome the false choice between equity and excellence in civics learning;
• Participating in public affairs in your community, such as voter registration events or volunteer opportunities; and
• Having courageous conversations across lines of identity and difference