At its Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly this week, the National Education Association (NEA) voted to investigate organizations that oppose Critical Race Theory (CRT) and so-called “anti-racist” curriculum.
There is little doubt NEA already was investigating and targeting such opposition. Nicole Solas, the Rhode Island mom involved in seeking public records, was targeted by the local NEA chapter. The assembly vote highlights how big a priority it is across NEA.
The NEA is the largest teacher union in America. On Thursday, July 1, the assembly passed this new business item:
NEA will research the organizations attacking educators doing anti-racist work and/or use the research already done and put together a list of resources and recommendations for state affiliates, locals, and individual educators to utilize when they are attacked. The research, resources, and recommendations will be shared with members through NEA’s social media, an article in NEA Today, and a recorded virtual presentation/webinar.
[Update July 6, 2021, by WAJ: NEA has removed this item from its website, as first reported by Fox News. You can view an archived version of the business item here.]
The item was introduced by Stephen Siegel, a special education teacher at Reynolds High School in Oregon. The website offers the rationale for the action, saying, “The attacks on anti-racist teachers are increasing, coordinated by well-funded organizations such as the Heritage Foundation. We need to be better prepared to respond to these attacks so that our members can continue this important work.”
The item passed with an initial annual budget allocation of $56,500.
Siegel is a long-time activist in the Reynolds School District who has been involved in past labor protests.
Critical Race Theory is not the traditional civil rights movement, which sought to provide equal opportunity and dignity without regard to race. Rather, Critical Race Theory, and the training to implement it, is a radical ideology that focuses on race as the key to understanding society, and objectifies people based on race. For more information, visit CriticalRace.org, a project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation.
The NEA’s Representative Assembly is a week-long virtual meeting running June 30 to July 3. Delegates from around the nation consider new business items, legislative amendments, policy statements, resolutions, and constitutional and bylaws amendments.
Though the budget allocation seems like a drop in the bucket, they have now set new priorities to defend teaching CRT in elementary education and conduct opposition research on the organizations opposed to it. The fiscal impact on the NEA states, “[t]his item cannot be accomplished with current staff and resources,” with the clear implication they will need to hire staff and create resources for local chapters. Of course, this is also just the initial budgetary allocation. It seems unlikely it will shrink in future budgets adopted by the NEA.
Other items on the NEA’s agenda for the assembly this week include two resolutions calling for a boycott of Israel and recognizing a Palestinian state. The Washington Free Beacon reports other business items the assembly will vote on: “a ‘decolonizing curriculum,’ creating a racial justice task force, opposing police unions, and sending a letter to the University of North Carolina calling for the school to grant tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones, the controversial New York Times writer behind the 1619 Project.”
—————
Jeff Reynolds is the author of the book, “Behind the Curtain: Inside the Network of Progressive Billionaires and Their Campaign to Undermine Democracy,” available at www.WhoOwnsTheDems.com. Jeff hosts a podcast at anchor.fm/BehindTheCurtain. You can follow him on Twitter @ChargerJeff, on Parler at @RealJeffReynolds, and on Gab at @RealJeffReynolds.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY