NEA Representative Assembly votes to break ties with the ADL. The NEA leadership overturns the vote.
I was taking a break from posting new stuff while I was on vacation with the family. We get back to Brooklyn on Sunday.
It is beautiful here, a perfect escape from all the crap that is going on in Washington D.C. and in so much of the world.
But I can’t stay away from the internet while having my cup of decaf and a donut (or two), still warm from Payne’s Killer Donuts just down the road.
This morning I had to shake my head when I read the news that the Executive Committee of the National Education Association, the largest union in the United States, had overturned the vote of their national convention which took place in Portland, Oregon over the July 4th weekend.
I was a NEA career member and local president for ten years. I attended every NEA Representative Assembly for 20 years.
The NEA likes to refers to its yearly national meeting as “the largest deliberative body in the world”. It claims it as a sign of the NEA’s democratic processes.
Except, it appears, when it disagrees with the delegates, elected from every union region across the country.
In an action passed by the vote of 7,000 delegates, the NEA was to break its ties with the Anti-Defamation League.
Classrooms have long used ADL produced educational materials. But many teachers have found the ADL materials to be biased in equating antisemitism with criticism of Israel.
The ADL has made claims of a rising tide of antisemitism by including in their numbers recent campus protests directed at the genocide in Gaza.
In a statement released by the NEA Executive Committee, the union’s leadership said that they would reject the resolution passed by a majority of the RA delegates.
“After consideration, it was determined that this proposal would not further NEA’s commitment to academic freedom, our membership, or our goals. Today’s vote by the NEA Board of Directors to not adopt this proposal completes NEA’s process.”
In reaction to the NEA Executive Board’s decision, the ADL continued their misrepresentations.
“We welcome the NEA Executive Committee and Board of Directors' decision to reject this misguided resolution that is rooted in exclusion and othering, and promoted for political reasons. We urge NEA leadership to communicate clearly with its membership that not only has this measure been rejected, but also how this approach is harmful to educators, students and families concerned about the rise of antisemitism and hate in our schools and communities.
“This resolution was not just an attack on the ADL, but a larger attack against Jewish educators, students, and families. We are grateful for the leadership shown by the members of the NEA Jewish Affairs Caucus and teachers across the country, whose words and stories serve as both a reminder and warning of why our work is so important. We thank the nearly 400 Jewish and community organizations and dozens of elected officials around the country who made clear their concerns about this dangerous and antisemitic resolution.”
The ADL equates criticisms of itself with antisemitism, just as it equates criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
Links:
https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/jewish-community-welcomes-nea-executive-committees-decision-reject-boycott
https://www.nea.org/about-nea/leaders/president/from-our-president/2025-representative-assembly-update
how undemocratic!
How sad!