National teachers’ union once again prioritizes political agenda, social activism

While the rest of America celebrated Independence Day, the national teachers’ union conducted a day of business during its annual four-day Representative Assembly. This year, the meeting was held in Portland, Oregon.

The National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly is made up of around 7,000 delegates in charge of adopting a budget, passing resolutions, and taking action on other NEA policies.

In recent years, the union has stopped making its new business items public — likely because of their overt political focus and prioritization of an extreme social agenda instead of on student learning and improving student outcomes. (Remember in 2019 when the NEA defeated a proposal to “re-dedicate itself to the pursuit of increased student learning in every public school in America by putting a renewed emphasis on quality education”?)

Here’s some of what the NEA adopted this year, as shared by Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Culture Project.

• The “NEA pledges to defend democracy against Trump’s embrace of fascism by using the term facism [sic] in NEA materials to correctly characterize Donald Trump’s program and actions.”
  
• The NEA “supports students’ right to organize against ICE raids and deportations” and “dissent and organize against Trump’s policies.”
  
• The “NEA declares its support for and participation in the mass democratic movement against Trump’s authoritarianism and violation of human rights.”
  
• The “NEA will not use, endorse, or publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or its statistics.” (The ADL was founded to fight antisemitism.)
  
• In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Mahmoud v. Taylor, which allows parents to opt their children out of gender ideology, the NEA will send out “resources” and hold LGBTQ+ conferences to “assist educators in avoiding possible disciplinary action when teaching about LGBTQ+ history, materials, resources, books, etc., while at school/work.”
  
• The “NEA will use existing media channels to oppose any move to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education,” as it claims such a move is “racist.”

Minnesota teachers who are union members pay dues to the National Education Association. Learn more about your options regarding union membership, including liability insurance, here.