Dear TEACH community,

Today, the TEACH Team mourns with families across the country. We mourn for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the many others on the list of Black lives cut short by violence and oppression. We grieve for Minneapolis, for Louisville, and for suffering communities everywhere.

We affirm that Black lives matter and we are committed to the dismantling of oppressive systems that put lives and livelihoods at risk and repairing the damage they cause. This involves doing our part to address racism and inequity in our nation’s schools. 

Great teachers empower, educate, and inspire students. They create the conditions that lift up communities. And, when teachers reflect the racial and cultural diversity of their students, all students’ lives improve—from increased graduation rates to greater career aspirations and higher incomes. Teachers help ensure that every student has a voice and a future that matters. 

TEACH is committed to lifting up teachers’ voices, promoting anti-racism in our education system, and recruiting a diverse and passionate next generation of teachers.

A diverse teaching workforce is a direct means to achieving a more equitable society. Towards that end, we commit to increasing the number of Black teachers in our nation’s schools. 

Over the coming months, we will continue to develop new resources to support Black teachers and their paths to the classroom, and we will elevate the voices of educators who advocate for and build more equitable schools and systems. At the same time, we will look inward to examine our own organizational processes to ensure we reflect the diverse perspectives our systems desperately need.

We hope you will join us in doing the work to ensure a more just and equitable education for all students.

Sincerely,
Zachary Levine and the TEACH Team