A volley of policy proposals has been put up for debate at the annual conference of the nation’s largest teacher’s union, including one that called for the organization to support making masks and COVID-19 vaccines mandatory in public schools.
About 6,000 delegates of the National Education Association (NEA), who collectively represent more than 3 million employees in public education, convened in Chicago from July 3–6. It’s the first time they’ve assembled in person to debate on issues and set policy agenda since the start of the pandemic.
One of the proposals, classified as New Business Item 37, called on the teachers’ union to support a “national policy of mandatory masking and COVID vaccines in schools,” as well as “high-quality virtual education for immune-compromised students and all families who want it by publicizing successful virtual education programs in public schools throughout the nation in existing media outlets.”
Another proposed measure in the 2022 assembly, New Business Item 41, called on the NEA to “take all necessary steps” to “defeat and overturn” Florida’s new education law that bans the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through 3rd-grade classrooms, as well as other laws that are deemed “homophobic and anti-transgender.”
The NEA delegate who submitted the agenda item referred to the Florida law as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” despite the actual law not including any such language.
“The NEA will publicize our continued commitment to LGBT youth and all young people’s right to learn about and develop their own sexual orientation and gender identity,” the resolution reads. “The NEA will demonstrate its support for the independent mass actions of youth to defend their existence, dignity, and rights of the LGBT community by encouraging membership participation in rallies, pickets, etc.”
The other one, New Business Item 63, urged the union to replace certain terms with “LGBTQIA+ inclusive” alternatives. For example, “parental leave,” “birthing parent,” and “non-birthing parent” are considered better replacements of “maternity leave,” “mother,” and “father,” respectively.
“Using this contract language, members need not worry about how a Board of Education/solicitor defines ’maternity leave,‘ ’mother,’ and/or ‘father;’ the language is an inclusive reflection of how LGBTQIA+ members build their families,” wrote the NEA delegate from New Jersey.
In New Business Item 34, a delegate from California called on the NEA to “publicly stand in defense of abortion and reproductive rights.” If adopted, the NEA would “encourage members to participate in activities including rallies and demonstrations, lobbying and political campaigns, educational events, and other actions to support the right to abortion, contraception, and a person’s decision about their health.”
“NEA is a social justice union that is a majority female and trans and gender non-conforming folx who will fight against these attacks,” it explained, describing “reproductive rights” as something not limited to women, but “all persons who are able to.”
Vice President Kamala Harris came to Chicago to deliver her remarks the day before the assembly concluded, praising the union for teaching “the principles of liberty and freedom in your classroom” and accusing Republican leaders of taking the educators’ freedom away.
“These so-called ‘leaders’ are taking freedoms away,” Harris said on July 5, reiterating the progressive narrative. “Freedom away from women and the freedom to make decisions over their own bodies; freedom away from a kindergarten-to-third-grade teacher in Florida to love openly and with pride; and away from every American as they intentionally try to make it more difficult for folks to vote.”
“We are 126 days away from an election, and we all know what we need to do,” she said.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the NEA to confirm the status of the aforementioned agenda items.
