WASHINGTON, D.C.―Teach Plus President and CEO Roberto J. Rodríguez issued the following statement following the verdict in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin:
“Education is the path to perfecting our democracy and to ensuring that we live up to our promise of liberty, justice, and equality for all. These values must be upheld in every community, in every neighborhood, and in every one of our schools across the nation.
The killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 laid bare the depth of racism and the profound injustices in our society that inordinately harm people of color. Today, as the jury reached its guilty verdict in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, we moved one step forward in the work to remedy injustice.
We applaud the jury’s decision. The verdict won’t bring George Floyd back to his family and loved ones. Nor will it repair the wounds inflicted by his killing. But it does represent accountability and an advancement in our reckoning with injustice and systemic racism.
Our educators are powerful facilitators of knowledge, social agents of change, and builders of our democracy. We will continue to stand with them in this fight against injustice, to foster equity and fairness through their teaching and through their living examples of leadership.”
About Teach Plus
Teach Plus is dedicated to the mission of empowering excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that advance equity, opportunity, and student success. Since 2009, Teach Plus has developed thousands of teacher leaders across the country to exercise their leadership in shaping education policy and improving teaching and learning, to create an education system driven by access and excellence for all. teachplus.org
