Teach For America endorses the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA), because all students deserve an equal opportunity to learn and succeed in school, and students who are, or who are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are no different.
“Through our work, Teach For America has long been committed to safety, fairness, and dignity for all students, and it is time for Congress to stand up for those same protections,” said Elisa Villanueva Beard and Matt Kramer, Teach For America co-CEOs. “All students deserve to learn without the fear of being discriminated against.”
Tim’m West, managing director of Teach For America’s LGBTQ Community Initiative, said, “The facts are clear—student academic achievement suffers when LGBTQ students are harassed, bullied, or discriminated against, an occurrence that is way too common. Teach For America is proud to stand with a long list of organizations in support of making these discriminatory practices unlawful once and for all.”
SNDA would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition of discrimination and would provide meaningful and effective remedies, based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identities in public schools.
About Teach For America
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today, 10,600 corps members are teaching in 50 urban and rural regions across the country while more than 37,000 alumni work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.