The Massachusetts Teachers Association continues to face heat for its “antisemitic list of resources” that were highlighted during a recent State House hearing, including a poster of dollar bills folded into a Star of David.
Groups and elected officials are calling for the teachers union’s leaders to pull the plug on these “vile antisemitic” educational resources after MTA President Max Page was grilled during last week’s meeting of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism.
The hearing focused on curriculum development in local K-12 schools and included testimony from Page, who was peppered with questions about MTA’s optional educational sources on the Israel-Hamas war.
These “Resources on Israel and Occupied Palestine” for MTA members include posters that glorify violence against Israelis, depict Israelis as snakes, and show a Star of David made out of dollar bills. The materials also feature a children’s workbook that calls Zionists “bullies.”
“The MTA has set itself on a really troubling course, and there’s been no evidence that they’re willing to be pulled off of that course,” ADL New England’s deputy director Sara Colb told the Herald on Monday.
“The MTA leadership needs to strongly consider pulling these really troubling and antisemitic resources,” she added.
Rep. Simon Cataldo, a co-chair of the State House commission, did most of the grilling during last week’s hearing.
He focused on the MTA’s resources related to the Israel-Hamas war, which the MTA had compiled together to “help educators engage with their students on this crucial and difficult topic,” according to the resource sheet distributed to MTA members.
The resources include 100 posters made by artists in solidarity with Palestine. One of the posters shared during the hearing was the Star of David made out of dollar bills.
“You’d agree that this is antisemitic imagery, correct?” Cataldo, a Democrat, asked Page.
The MTA president responded, “I’m not going to evaluate that.”
Cataldo replied, “It’s a dollar bill folded up in the Star of David. Is it antisemitic?”
Page did not answer.
“I think you nodded your head yes,” Cataldo said.
Page then spoke up: “I understand the back and forth, which is you’re trying to get away from the central point — which is that we provide imagery, we provide resources for our members to consider, in their own intelligent, professional way.”
“And it’s antisemitic,” Cataldo said before moving on to the next poster.
The ADL New England chapter said these resources “perpetuate some of the most vile antisemitic stereotypes we’ve seen in a while.”
This State House hearing came after the Massachusetts Educators Against Antisemitism group has been fighting against these resources for more than a year.
Just days before the hearing, MTA rank-and-file members called on the MTA Board of Directors to toss the resources; the board decided to keep the material.
“I am grateful for the many brave MTA teachers who blew the whistle on attempts to introduce into our kids’ classrooms a radically biased curriculum on a complex issue,” Cataldo said in a statement on Monday. “These teachers have withstood gaslighting and shaming simply for calling out what amounts to, at best, educational malpractice, and what can fairly be perceived as the intentional and context-free introduction of classic antisemitic tropes into schools.
“I hope that the MTA can see fit to respond with a modicum of contrition and reflection rather than defiance in the face of the indefensible,” the rep added.
Sen. John Velis, the other co-chair of the State House commission, told the Herald that the antisemitic materials should be “burnt and sent nowhere near a classroom.”
“I hope the MTA reflects on this and engages in serious introspection,” the Democrat said. “They need to get rid of the antisemitic material, and add additional perspectives for the one-sided material.”
Velis stressed that education needs to be about teaching kids how to think, not teaching kids what to think.
The co-chairs said they plan to put forth recommendations this fall, ahead of the Commission’s deadline, about the importance of balanced resources.
Following the hearing, the MTA leaders dug in and called out the commission members for “political grandstanding.”
“In meeting with the Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism, the Massachusetts Teachers Association had hoped for honest dialogue and an exchange of ideas,” Page and MTA Vice President Deb McCarthy said in a statement. “Instead, the president of the union and one of its members were subjected to two hours of political grandstanding that did not further the cause of combatting antisemitism.”
“The Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism has a willing ally in the Massachusetts Teachers Association,” the leaders added. “Yet, members and leaders of the commission chose instead to demonize our educators and their union through a selective presentation of material accessible only to union members via online resources about the war between Israel and Hamas. It was an inquisition that was beneath the dignity of the Legislature… We will not be bullied by special interest groups or by politicians looking to score points. Our union’s values are rooted in democracy and justice, and our goal is unwavering: ensuring every student in a Massachusetts public school, college and university can grow and thrive.”
