Standing with Educators in the Pursuit of Racial Justice

by Joe Holland, CEO of Teachers Pay Teachers

This past weekend, I shared TpT’s commitment to speak up, take action, and partner with educators to work for change in the wake of recent tragedies and injustices against Black people in America. These events are a painful reminder that the violence facing the Black community today is part of a long history of racism and oppression.

We stand with the Black community. We have to create systemic change. This work is hard and complex, and it couldn’t be more urgent.

I’ve been inspired by the powerful conversation we’ve been engaged in with our community. Educators everywhere have reached out to offer support, raise critical questions, and share ideas. Educators are changemakers.

Today, I want to share what we will do next to bring forward the power of the TpT community to create change and support essential conversations with students around topics of race and social justice. We are launching three initiatives:

1) Amplifying Black Educator Voices and Social Justice Resources

Across our channels, we will highlight Black educators, their TpT stores, and important resources members of our community can use now to start critical conversations with students. There are perspectives and resources on TpT that can move this conversation forward, and we are focused on using our platform to amplify these voices.

2) Launching $100,000 Grant Program for Educators to Create Additional Resources

TpT will propel these conversations further and be a catalyst for change. This means encouraging educators to develop additional anti-racist and social justice resources.

To make that happen, TpT will fund $100,000 in the form of grants to educators to help develop these educational resources. These grants will support and give voice to educators as they create additional vital resources to help all educators teach about race and social justice. We will share more details on the grant application process in the coming days, so please stay tuned.

3) Providing Free Social Justice and Anti-Racist Learning Opportunities for All Educators

We want to make it possible for every teacher to have the training opportunities they need to support essential conversations with students about racism and social justice.

In the coming days, we will announce free professional learning opportunities for the full TpT community focused on anti-racist education and teaching students about identity, diversity, justice, and action.

These three initiatives reflect our foundational belief in the power of the TpT’s diverse community to stand for Black lives and work for change. Everyone has a role to play. Together, we will do our part to create a more just and equitable world.

Originally published on The TpT Blog on June 1, 2020.