An exclusive report from National Review (NR) on Tuesday revealed that the largest teachers’ union in America will debate a resolution calling Israel’s actions in Gaza “genocide,” along with several other anti-Israel resolutions at its annual convention this week in Philadelphia.
The National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, will consider adopting as its “official position” a resolution holding that Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza and another that opposing Israel’s existence is not antisemitic.
According to documents obtained by NR, the union would use its “existing digital communication tools to educate members about the difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism” if the resolutions are adopted.
The NEA and its largest rival union, the American Federation of Teachers, have long been highly political in favor of the left wing of the Democratic Party, tilting far to the left of their membership, according to several polls of union members.
Surveys show that the approximately 57 percent of teachers call themselves Republicans or independents, yet almost 100 percent of the union spending supports Democrat and progressive candidates and policy positions.
In a 2022 report on political activism and spending by the teachers’ unions, the Government Accountability Institute documented how much more money they spent on on political activities and lobbying than they did for the traditional “representational activities” of a labor union representing its members.
GAI’s report examined the spending forms that the two unions must file annually detailing their spending activities. GAI researchers reviewed documents filed by the two largest teachers unions with the US Department of Labor (DOL). The filings, called LM-2 reports, provide a detailed map of union spending priorities.
Commenting on the report’s release, GAI president and investigative journalist Peter Schweizer said, “unfortunately, this research confirms that America’s national teachers unions are more interested in advancing a radical political agenda than in actually representing their members.”
NR‘s report quotes David Smokler, the director of K-12 educator outreach at nonprofit organization StandWithUs, saying the NEA has taken a largely anti-Israel position since October 7 and that the resolutions are cause for concern.
“Multiple [New Business Items] call for the NEA to promote BDS in one way or another. BDS is a campaign of hate that has ties to Hamas and seeks to boycott Israel out of existence,” Smokler said. “Another NBI would direct the NEA to send out propaganda to all members that deny any connection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Israel is the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people, who have lived there continuously for over 3,000 years. Denying Jews the right to self-determination in their homeland is antisemitic, full stop.”
