As you know, across the country, the rampant spread of misinformation about what is being taught in our schools is fueling efforts to censor teachers, omit history, and ban conversations about race in our classrooms and causing additional stress and distraction at the worst possible time.

A concerted response is urgently needed, which is why National Council for the Social Studies has become a founding member of the Learn from History Coalition, a broad-based bipartisan coalition made up of more than twenty leading organizations representing school system leaders, educators, parents, and students across America.

The Learn from History Coalition’s goals are straightforward:

1. Educate parents and the public about what is actually taught in schools,
2. Explain the vital importance of students learning thorough, accurate, and fact-based history and that racism is wrong, and
3. Dramatize in an authentic, non-political, non-confrontational way through first person accounts the harm and cost of efforts to restrict what is taught in classrooms across the country.

The Learn from History Coalition is apolitical and will not engage in any lobbying or advocacy. It is solely focused on facilitating broad-based, effective communication to shift the imbalanced and detrimental current narrative.

If you share our concern about the widespread misinformation about what is being taught and its negative impact and student, educators, and us all, please join the Learn from History Coalition launch event.

Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Time: 8:00 PM EDT, 7:00 PM CDT, 6:00 PM MDT, 5:00 PM PDT

Registration Link: Register Now

In advance of the Coalition’s formal public launch on Wednesday, September 8, I wanted to share a valuable Coalition resource that you can use right away:

Brief Guide for School System Leaders on How to Minimize the Misinformation-Fueled History and Social Studies Backlash

Please take a look and consider acting on the very doable recommendations right away, starting with releasing an effective statement to the community, as many districts across the country have already done. I invite you also to review and share our recent NCSS response to the attacks on social studies education in state legislatures and local boards of education.

I hope you are able to join us for the Learn From History Coalition launch on September 8. Thank you for all you are doing for our students at this crucial and challenging time.

Sincerely,

Lawrence M. Paska, Ph.D., CAE

Executive Director