Following last year’s contentious assembly mired in allegations of antisemitism, the National Education Association — the nation’s largest teachers’ union — adopted new policies for its upcoming Denver convention aimed at preventing the same chaos, the NEA confirmed to Jewish Insider. 

“Leading up to this year’s Representative Assembly, we are taking significant steps to ensure all of our members are respected and supported at the event based on extensive feedback and consultation with the Jewish Affairs Caucus, Jewish members, and partners in the Jewish community,” an NEA spokesperson told JI.

“We have strengthened policies for addressing discriminatory or harassing conduct, streamlined the complaint process, and are empowering event staff and leaders to remove those who violate NEA’s standards. There will also be an expanded security presence at the Representative Assembly and we will continue rigorous outreach and engagement with caucuses, including the Jewish Affairs Caucus, and external partners.”

The new rules for the July 3-7 Representative Assembly include stricter conduct enforcement for delegates, electronic voting to prevent shouting on the floor, de-escalation training for staff and regular public reminders of assembly rules, according to the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which said it worked with the union’s Jewish Affairs Caucus to lobby the NEA for the changes.

At last year’s conference in Portland, thousands of delegates passed a measure that would have barred the union from using, endorsing or publicizing any materials from the Anti-Defamation League, though the decision was later overturned by NEA’s Board of Directors.

 Several Jewish teachers who spoke out against the resolution at the RA told JI they were “harassed and shouted down during the proceedings.” Other delegates from the JAC said they were surrounded in what appeared to be coordinated disruptions, and one member who referenced the victim of an antisemitic firebombing in Colorado said other attendees then laughed and applauded.

The episode was widely criticized by Jewish educators and their allies as antisemitic, exacerbating concerns about the growing marginalization of Jews within the teachers’ union following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks and the subsequent impacts in K-12 classrooms. 

JCPA CEO Amy Spitalnick, who will lead a presentation titled “How Educators Can Confront Antisemitism & Hate and Defend Democracy” at the weekend convening, said that “as extreme voices on both ends of the political spectrum pit Jewish safety against democratic norms and values, it’s vital that we carve a different path forward.”

JAC Chair Alyson Brauning celebrated the NEA’s adoption of “clear standards for speech and conduct in all union spaces and promoting a greater understanding of the needs and concerns of Jewish members.

“We want to express our gratitude to NEA leadership for their work with the JAC on these new rules, and are expressing our hopes that these will be enforced as fully and fairly as possible,” she said.  

Some NEA members, including incoming JAC leadership who say they were excluded from drafting the new policies, are reserving their judgment as to their efficacy.

Naomi Rodriguez, a math teacher in Pennsylvania and the incoming chair of JAC who will start her term on Aug. 1, told JI that despite being a “proud union member,” she believes the “NEA has significant work to do.” 

“Unfortunately, I was not consulted about the agreement reached with JCPA,” said Rodriguez.  “Our members should never have to choose between supporting our union and protecting themselves. The real test will be on the Representative Assembly floor: whether the experience of Jewish delegates is tainted by dehumanizing rhetoric and identity-based attacks, and how our NEA leadership responds.”   

Josh Hirsch, an English teacher in Colorado and incoming vice chair of the JAC, told JI he was also not included in the discussions with JCPA and NEA. 

“NEA has appropriately spoken up for racial justice and immigration issues, like George Floyd and ICE raids, but when a man firebombed a peaceful Jewish gathering in Boulder just up the road from this convention, and when gunmen opened fire on Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney killing 15 people, NEA stayed silent. That silence is a failure of our values, and NEA must step up publicly and stop sitting on the fence.” 

The ADL, which was targeted by the union, also criticized the manner in which the policies came about.

“We are extremely frustrated about a so-called ‘agreement’ with JCPA that was reached without all NEA JAC leadership and delegates at the table,” the ADL told JI. “Crafting commitments that affect Jewish educators without including their incoming representatives sends a troubling message. It risks reinforcing the very sense of exclusion that the changes are presumably meant to address.”

“NEA has a considerable amount of work to do to earn back the trust of Jewish educators after last year’s Representative Assembly, and in light of the unchecked rise of antisemitism within NEA and many state and local affiliates,” the antisemitism watchdog group continued. “NEA’s inconsistent enforcement of its own protections has sent an unmistakable message: Jewish educators are not a priority. That must change now.” 

Spitalnick and the NEA disputed these accounts and insisted that JAC leadership was consulted. “Our team was keeping ADL and other Jewish organizations closely in the loop,” Spitalnick told JI. “[We’ve] been in close touch with the incoming [JAC] leaders.” 

“Leadership represents the caucus in conversations like this,” she said. 

Jay Goldfischer, a teacher in Los Angeles County who has been an NEA member for 26 years, told JI that “on paper, the changes are in the right direction.”

He added, “Actions will speak louder than words once we’re on the floor at the convention.”

Goldfischer said he is going into the RA prepared for “antisemitic and exclusionary policies [being] considered — and that continues to send the message that Jewish educators aren’t a priority.” 

“What transpired at the Representative Assembly last year was really upsetting and I have serious concerns about what could happen this year,” he continued. “Last year was not a safe environment for Jewish delegates. I think it’s premature to claim that these new policies are going to ensure the safety of Jewish members and educators when already NEA’s enforcement has not been consistent in the past.” 

“I’m still stuck on the fact that they shouldn’t have to make new rules to make an education convention safe for Jewish delegates,” he continued.