Why did AJC New England create this report?
At a deeply polarized moment in American history, activists on the political right and the left are working to introduce their political beliefs into K-12 classrooms. Leaders of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) are among them. Their actions appear to be an attempt to bring discrete political views into K-12 classrooms. This risks polarizing communities, sowing distrust in schools, and furthering rampant antisemitism at a time when anti-Jewish incidents are proliferating across Massachusetts and around the country.
What are American Jewish Committee’s specific concerns with the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA)?
Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel, when 1,200 Israelis were brutally murdered and 240 people were kidnapped as hostages into Gaza, MTA leadership has embraced a series of measures that have supported pro-Palestinian activists, demonized Israel and its supporters, and encouraged teachers to do the same. These measures have included multiple resolutions, seminars and teacher training programs. In addition, the MTA has said that it wants to introduce new resources with the express goal of having its members bring them to their classrooms. Given the MTA’s extensive record promoting false, one-sided, and sometimes malign information, this should be a cause for alarm. In the words of Massachusetts Senators Rebecca Rausch and Jason Lewis, “Teachers, students, and parents share our worry that our Commonwealth’s largest teachers union appears to be promoting a one-sided ideological view that, if perpetuated, would further isolate and potentially endanger Jewish and Israeli people in our schools and communities.”
Aren’t teachers entitled to share their opinions, just like anyone else?
Yes, of course. When they enter their classrooms, however, their job is to teach students, not to indoctrinate them. Most parents and community members do not want teachers telling their students which political candidate to back, which faith to believe in, or which cause to support. They want their children to be educated, informed and empowered to make their own judgments, and they trust teachers to enable this. When a union mobilizes its teachers to bring its preferred views into K-12 classrooms, they violate this trust.
So, isn’t this all about a disagreement concerning the conflict between Israel, Hamas, and other Palestinians?
No and yes. When a powerful institution, like the MTA, promotes its preferred political perspectives to its members, and then encourages these educators to promote these views in their classrooms, everyone should be worried. But members of the Jewish community also have particular concerns. We are witnessing an attempt by a leading educational institution to transform a complex conflict with deep historical roots into a simple narrative about good and evil. This narrative erases an exhaustive historical record and demonizes both Israel and those who support it. Israel is home to nearly half of the world’s Jews, and American Jews overwhelmingly support it. So yes, many in the Jewish communities are alarmed by efforts to fabricate a history that justifies the demonization of Israel and its supporters. The normalization of toxic ideas, including those being spread by the MTA, has contributed to an increasingly difficult climate for Jews in Massachusetts and a growing number of complaints about antisemitism in public schools.
What can be done if you have concerns about politicized classrooms?
Leaders of the MTA have introduced aggressive measures that risk politicizing K-12 classrooms. At the same time, it is not at all clear that most rank-and-file members of the MTA support or are even aware of these actions. So, if you have concerns about what is happening in a given classroom, school, or school system, it is important that you discuss these concerns with the relevant educators and school committee members in your city or town. Your own informed vigilance and your open, respectful communication with your local school officials is the key to protecting our schools and students from unwanted political indoctrination.
Here is a sample letter that can be adapted for the purposes of starting this conversation. For additional guidance as to how you might do this, please go to Addendum I, How to Be Heard: Suggestions for Constructive Engagement and Advocacy in AJC New England’s report.
If you have questions, comments, or guidance around the report, please email [email protected].
AJC is a strictly non-partisan 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that neither supports nor opposes candidates for elective office.
