WASHINGTON, D.C.―Teach Plus President and CEO Roberto J. Rodríguez issued the following statement about this past weekend’s events, following last week’s senseless killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, MN:
“The depth of racism and racial injustice in our nation is not a new phenomenon, but the events of the past week have again laid bare the profound injustice present in communities across our country. The killing of George Floyd―like that of Eric Garner, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others―is a painful reminder that we live in a society that does not ascribe equal value to the lives and human rights of people of color.
The outrage across our cities is a reckoning with injustice―past and present―that persists across our country. Now is the time for our nation’s leaders to respond with a message of reconciliation, unity, and hope for our country―not of division or further incitement of violence.
Teach Plus stands with communities of color across our country affected by racial violence and oppression. We stand with those who speak out against racism, oppression, and violence. We acknowledge that Black lives matter. And we believe in the humanity and dignity of every individual in our society. Equality and opportunity must be upheld in every school and every neighborhood across our country.
Education is the bridge to healing and ending racial injustice in our country. It is the path to perfecting our democracy, and to ensuring that we live up to our promise of liberty, justice, and equality for all.
At Teach Plus, we dedicate ourselves to developing teacher leaders in our schools and communities, to advance equity for students. Our teachers are facilitators of knowledge, social agents of change, and builders of our democracy. We will stand with them to fight against injustice and 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
