In the fall of 2024, a Jewish teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District opened an email from his teachers union to find a flyer promoting an “International Day of Action” with the statement, “One year of genocide, one year of resistance.”
Disgusted, he reached out to leadership and demanded his dues be returned. The United Educators of San Francisco vice president refused, standing in support of the event.
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It should come as no surprise that the union vice president rejected the teacher’s plea since he himself was involved in the far-left radical movement. According to his Instagram, he is an “ANSWER organizer” and a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. ANSWER Coalition was a sponsor of the “Day of Action” event.
Last August, that SFUSD teacher won his lawsuit against the local teachers union and its vice president. Naturally, the teachers union is appealing the decision.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. In recent years, incidents of antisemitism and the promotion of antisemitic materials and content have made their way into K-12 school districts and classrooms across the country.
So, who or what is helping to advance antisemitism in education?
According to a recent op-ed by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, it is not the teachers unions that are responsible. Rather, the fault lies with school boards and the Trump administration.
This could not be further from the truth.
In fact, the teachers unions and members are, at least partly, to blame for anti-Israel and antisemitic content in K-12 schools and classrooms.
After its convention in July, the National Education Association got lambasted nationally when its Representative Assembly passed a resolution boycotting Anti-Defamation League education materials on antisemitism. Despite the board of directors eventually rejecting the resolution, it is clear that a majority of its rank-and-file members harbor antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments.
While the national teachers unions have tried to stave off controversy, it is the state and local level unions that are the worst offenders.
For example, emails from 2024 show Oakland Unified School District staff providing a list of resources to teachers for a “mini teach-in about Gaza.” Included was a linked document created by the Oakland Education Association titled “Educational Resources on Palestine,” intended to aid teachers in support of the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.”
The OEA resources document includes content such as the controversial “Teach Palestine” curriculum, a picture book for 4 to 8-year-olds from the Palestinian Feminist Collective, lessons on prison and police abolition, and a piece from Al Jazeera.
In May 2024, the Oregon Educators for Palestine, in collaboration with the Portland Association of Teachers, released a guide titled “Know Your Rights! Teaching & Organizing for Palestine within Portland Public Schools.” The document includes a legal overview stating that “educators teaching about genocide in Palestine are consistent with Oregon law.” It also includes how teachers can connect the teaching of Palestine to Oregon’s Ethnic Studies Standards and lessons from highly controversial sources such as Woke Kindergarten.
At the state level, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and its members have also been a driver of antisemitism and antisemitic content.
Last spring, the MTA promoted lesson plans to its members that include “Teaching Palestine” from “Rethinking Schools.” An overall theme of the lessons is a “critical examination of Zionism” and includes teaching students to have solidarity with Palestinians, anti-colonialism, and to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
The MTA’s curriculum materials are so egregious that the School District of Brookline passed a resolution critical of the MTA and warning district staff about the use of the content. The resolution declares that the materials “contain unambiguous antisemitic elements” and the “use of these materials in any school district could create an environment that undermines the values of impartial education and mutual respect among students and staff of diverse backgrounds.”
Despite what Weingarten claims, there is ample evidence to prove that teachers unions are driving antisemitic content into schools. By promoting materials and activism that frame Israel and often Jews as oppressors, unions are stoking division and playing a role in pushing radical left-wing ideologies.
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Antisemitism, already on the rise nationally, has no place in our schools.
Teachers unions should focus on improving schools and education for students, families, and teachers, not advancing destructive political agendas.
Rhyen Staley is a researcher for Defending Education. He holds a master’s degree in elementary education and has over a decade of classroom experience in both public and private schools.