National Teachers Union Plans to Promote Critical Race Theory

The National Education Association (NEA), which collaborates with approximately 14,000 school districts, recently debated and voted to support a number of resolutions and policy recommendations at their annual meeting.

Among the items adopted during the meeting was New Business Item 39, which outlines an action plan to promote Critical Race Theory (CRT).

The plan states, “We oppose attempts to ban critical race theory and/or The 1619 Project.”

The item also planned to provide the study and critique of “white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, patriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, anthropocentrism, and other forms of power and oppression at the intersections of our society.”

In support of the plan, the NEA plans to commit President Becky Pringle (seen in photo above) to making public statements across all lines of media and to “conduct a virtual listening tour that will educate members on the tools and resources needed to defend honesty in education including but not limited to tools like CRT.”

The text of New Business Item 39, which was adopted last week, was recently erased from the NEA website. However, we have included the full text of the item below.

Both the Florida Education Association and the Leon Classroom Teachers Association are affiliated with the NEA. TR has reached out to the leadership of both organizations for a comment. We will publish their statements when they received.

______________________

NEA New Business Item 39

The NEA will, with guidance on implementation from the NEA president and chairs of the Ethnic Minority Affairs Caucuses:

A. Share and publicize, through existing channels, information already available on critical race theory (CRT) — what it is and what it is not; have a team of staffers for members who want to learn more and fight back against anti-CRT rhetoric; and share information with other NEA members as well as their community members.

B. Provide an already-created, in-depth, study that critiques empire, white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, patriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, anthropocentrism, and other forms of power and oppression at the intersections of our society, and that we oppose attempts to ban critical race theory and/or The 1619 Project.

C. Publicly (through existing media) convey its support for the accurate and honest teaching of social studies topics, including truthful and age-appropriate accountings of unpleasant aspects of American history, such as slavery, and the oppression and discrimination of Indigenous, Black, Brown, and other peoples of color, as well as the continued impact this history has on our current society. The Association will further convey that in teaching these topics, it is reasonable and appropriate for curriculum to be informed by academic frameworks for understanding and interpreting the impact of the past on current society, including critical race theory.

D. Join with Black Lives Matter at School and the Zinn Education Project to call for a rally this year on October 14—George Floyd’s birthday—as a national day of action to teach lessons about structural racism and oppression. Followed by one day of action that recognize and honor lives taken such as Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, and others. The National Education Association shall publicize these National Days of Action to all its members, including in NEA Today.

E. Conduct a virtual listening tour that will educate members on the tools and resources needed to defend honesty in education including but not limited to tools like CRT.

F. Commit President Becky Pringle to make public statements across all lines of media that support racial honesty in education including but not limited to critical race theory.