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Teaching for Change

Teaching for Change logo (link)
Website:

www.teachingforchange.org/
Location:

WASHINGTON, DC
Tax ID:

52-1616482
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2016):

Revenue: $542,130
Expenses: $820,144
Assets: $521,901
Formation:

1990

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Teaching for Change is a left-of-center organization that focuses on supporting left-progressive social and economic policy through school education. Teaching for Change aims to provide resources that teach children a left-of-center view on subjects such as the 2020 Presidential Election, which it claims is filled with “hate speech” and is a “climate of presidential candidate fear-mongering and threats.” 1 It also provides resources on “The President’s Agenda,” “White Identity,” and “Resistance 101.” 2

It is funded by groups such as the D.C. Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Communities for Just Schools Fund,3 and has been funded by government contributions in the past. 4

Founding

Teaching for Change is a left-of-center non-profit organization that focuses on “social justice” education. It was officially founded in 1990 under the name of Network of Educators on the Americas (NECA) before changing its name in April of 2002. 5

The Network of Educators’ Committees on Central America (NECCA), a coalition of teacher committees that were formed across 11 cities in the United States and Canada, began the idea of Teaching for Change in the 1980s. The Washington, D.C. committee for NECCA began the “Books Project” in 1989, which was formed to assist Central American students with their writing and to share their stories of immigration. The project secured the D.C. Committee federal funding to assist the George Washington University in sharing “professional development and coaching” in District of Columbia Public Schools and Prince George’s County Public Schools. 6

Teaching for Change, under the name NECA, worked with Rethinking Schools to publish Rethinking Columbus,7 an educational book for schools that teach a hostile view of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish exploration of the Americas. 8

Teaching for Change has also published other books such as Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Multicultural, Anti-Racist Education and Staff Development and Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching. It curates a website which identifies and promotes left-progressive social-policy aligned books for children and develops lessons and curates resources such as Early Childhood Anti-Bias Education, the Zinn Education Project, and Challenge Islamophobia. 9

Funding

Teaching for Change relies on grants and contributions from various organizations and foundations.

The charity received just over $1.5 million in contributions and grants in 2011, including $97,500 in government contributions. 10 Teaching for Change then received just over $600,000 in 2012, slightly more than $650,000 in 2013, approximately $1.3 million in 2014, just over $760,000 in 2015, $542,000 in 2016, slightly less than $800,000 in 2017,11 and just under $830,000 in 2018. 12

The revenue for teaching for change also includes government funding amounting to $75,000 in 2012,13 it also received $37,767 in government contributions in 201614 and an additional $21,750 in 2017. 15

Teaching for Change lists some of its past and present funders on its website. The present funders include the D.C. Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Communities for Just Schools Fund. Previous funders include Capital One Services, Inc.; George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Target Foundation, and Tides Foundation. 16

Civil Rights Teaching

Civil Rights Teaching is a Teaching for Change program developed to support its publication Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching.17 This book was published by Teaching for Change in 2004 in partnership with left-of-center civil rights advocacy group Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC)18 and Rethinking Schools, a left-of-center publisher of social-policy-focused education materials.19  20

Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching is a teacher’s resource book targeted for use with PreK-12 students and includes articles, essays, interviews, photos, songs, and teaching aids on civil rights and movement building. It includes works from civil rights activists Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, Grace Lee Boggs, Elizabeth Martinez, Sonia Sanchez, and Marcus Garvey,21 and a foreword written by civil rights activist and former U.S. Representative John Lewis (D).22 23 The companion website provides information about the book content and lessons as well as handouts that can be used.24

Funders of the book include left-of-center grantmaking groups Akonadi Foundation, Fannie Mae Foundation, and George Gund Foundation.25 An updated version of Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching was planned for release in 2023.26

Teaching for Change has given workshops on how to leverage Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching in schools to the National Education Association (NEA) teachers union and school districts and has worked with Mississippi schools to incorporate civil rights and labor history lessons into the curriculum. The W. K. Kellogg Foundation funded this initiative.27

Political Education

Teaching for Change has multiple resources to educate students on subjects such as “resistance,” elections, and left-progressive “social change.” 28

On its website, Teaching for Change claims that the 2020 Presidential Election is filled with “hate speech” and that election history has been filled with “Institutionalized racism, classism, sexism, and xenophobia.” The non-profit also claims that this current election is a “climate of presidential candidate fear-mongering and threats.” 29

Teaching for Change also has a page on its website titled “Teaching Radical Hope and Resistance,” which lists resources such as “The President’s Agenda,” “White Identity,” and “Resistance 101.”

Resistance 101, which claims to “introduce a history of resistance to injustice,” by teaching “resistance” to middle and high school classes. The website’s picture highlighting the resource shows controversial activist Linda Sarsour and 20th-century radical Yuri Kochiyama. 30

Kochiyama, who is praised by Teaching for Change, told an interviewer in 2003 that she was happy they were “curious why I consider Osama bin Laden as one of the people that I admire. To me, he is in the category of Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Patrice Lumumba, Fidel Castro, all leaders that I admire.” She then explained that she admired all of those people because “they all had a severe dislike for the U.S. government and those who held power in the U.S.” 31

Another resource from Teaching for Change is called “Activists for Social Change.” The handout for this resource reads “Students can learn a lot by studying the lives of people who have worked for social justice. Their lives can teach how to face challenges, where to gather strength to face adversity, how to relate to other people, and how to deal with defeat.” 32 The resource lists multiple activists and leaders throughout history including controversial figures such as radical organizer Saul Alinksy; radical Black activist Malcolm X; Communist dicators Fidel Castro, Ho Chi Minh, and Mao Zedong; and Castro regime figure Che Guevara. 33

Critical Race Theory

In 2021, a report card of various educational contractors and consultants was released by Parents Defending Education (PDE). The report listed consultants and organizations that work with schools and teachers implementing Critical Race Theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculums and policies. PDE identified Teaching for Change as one of these organizations, reporting that the organization promotes the Zinn Education Project, classroom books for promoting “social change,” and that it hosted a 2021 “curriculum fair” for Black Lives Matter at School. 34

References

  1. “Teaching about Elections,” Teaching for Change, April 11, 2017, https://www.teachingforchange.org/teaching-elections.
  2. “Teaching Radical Hope and Resistance,” Teaching for Change, December 22, 2017, https://www.teachingforchange.org/teaching-radical-hope.
  3. “Funders,” Teaching for Change, June 4, 2020, https://www.teachingforchange.org/about/donorspartners.
  4. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “TEACHING FOR CHANGE – Form Form 990 for Period Ending Jun 2011 – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/521616482/2012_06_EO/52-1616482_990_201106.
  5. “Founding and Early History,” Teaching for Change, December 6, 2019, https://www.teachingforchange.org/anniversary-founding-and-early-history.
  6. “Founding and Early History,” Teaching for Change, December 6, 2019, https://www.teachingforchange.org/anniversary-founding-and-early-history.
  7. “Founding and Early History,” Teaching for Change, December 6, 2019, https://www.teachingforchange.org/anniversary-founding-and-early-history.
  8. “Rethinking Columbus,” Google Books (Google), accessed August 10, 2020, https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Rethinking_Columbus.html?id=IBZ1AAAAMAAJ.
  9. “What We Do,” Teaching for Change, August 5, 2019, https://www.teachingforchange.org/about/what-we-do.
  10. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “TEACHING FOR CHANGE – Form Form 990 for Period Ending Jun 2011 – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/521616482/2012_06_EO/52-1616482_990_201106.
  11. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “Teaching For Change – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521616482.
  12. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “TEACHING FOR CHANGE – Form Form 990 for Period Ending Jun 2018 – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/521616482/11_2019_prefixes_47-54/521616482_201806_990_2019110816831416.
  13. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “TEACHING FOR CHANGE – Form Form 990 for Period Ending Jun 2012 – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/521616482/2012_12_EO/52-1616482_990_201206.
  14. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “Teaching For Change, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521616482/201720379349300932/full.
  15. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “Teaching For Change, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521616482/201841349349309334/full.
  16. “Funders,” Teaching for Change, June 4, 2020, https://www.teachingforchange.org/about/donorspartners.
  17. “Programs.” Teaching for Change – What We Do. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.teachingforchange.org/about/what-we-do
  18. PRRAC website. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.prrac.org/
  19. Rethinking Schools website. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://rethinkingschools.org/
  20. Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching. Amazon book sample. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Movement-Civil-Rights-Teaching/dp/1878554182/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1341405526165994&hvadid=83838035992940&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=85684&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83838728916530%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=9455_10848206&keywords=putting+the+movement+back+into+civil+rights+teaching&qid=1685132347&s=books&sr=1-1&asin=1878554182&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1
  21. Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching. Amazon. Accessed May 26, 2023.  https://www.ama”zon.com/Putting-Movement-Civil-Rights-Teaching/dp/1878554182/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1341405526165994&hvadid=83838035992940&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=85684&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83838728916530%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=9455_10848206&keywords=putting+the+movement+back+into+civil+rights+teaching&qid=1685132347&s=books&sr=1-1
  22. “John Lewis.” Brittanica. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Lewis-American-civil-rights-leader-and-politician
  23. John Lewis. “Foreward.” Civil Rights Teaching – About the Book. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/about
  24. Civil Rights Teaching website. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/
  25. “Funders & Donors.” Civil Rights Teaching – Donate. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/funders-donors
  26. “Donate to the Civil Rights Teaching Book.” Civil Rights Teaching – Donate. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/donate
  27. “Civil Rights Teaching.” Teaching for Change. Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.teachingforchange.org/educator-resources/civil-rights-teaching
  28. “Teaching Radical Hope and Resistance,” Teaching for Change, December 22, 2017, https://www.teachingforchange.org/teaching-radical-hope.
  29. “Teaching about Elections,” Teaching for Change, April 11, 2017, https://www.teachingforchange.org/teaching-elections.
  30. “Teaching Radical Hope and Resistance,” Teaching for Change, December 22, 2017, https://www.teachingforchange.org/teaching-radical-hope.
  31. Dylan Matthews, “Yuri Kochiyama, Today’s Google Doodle, Fought for Civil Rights – and Praised Osama Bin Laden,” Vox (Vox, May 19, 2016), https://www.vox.com/2016/5/19/11713686/yuri-kochiyama.
  32. “Activists for Social Change,” TeachingforChange.org, accessed August 10, 2020, https://www.teachingforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/activists-for-social-change.pdf
  33. “Activists for Social Change,” TeachingforChange.org, accessed August 10, 2020, https://www.teachingforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/activists-for-social-change.pdf
  34. “Teaching for Change.” Parents Defending Education, October 20, 2021. https://defendinged.org/report/teaching-for-change/.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: June - May
  • Tax Exemption Received: October 1, 1989

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2016 Jun Form 990 $542,130 $820,144 $521,901 $48,957 N $442,843 $58,498 $628 $163,595
    2015 Jun Form 990 $762,639 $847,680 $809,123 $55,958 N $510,722 $84,075 $635 $54,415 PDF
    2014 Jun Form 990 $1,310,742 $737,139 $928,044 $90,616 N $1,046,093 $90,342 $565 $54,000 PDF
    2013 Jun Form 990 $652,892 $1,105,446 $349,529 $116,846 N $406,483 $48,402 $1,343 $53,671 PDF
    2012 Jun Form 990 $600,750 $1,024,447 $807,107 $121,500 N $345,333 $18,632 $1,728 $54,822 PDF
    2011 Jun Form 990 $1,551,621 $812,555 $1,265,412 $156,108 N $1,313,925 $0 $827 $54,600 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Teaching for Change

    PO BOX 73038
    WASHINGTON, DC 20056-3038