The National Education Association wants students to become social justice advocates instead of learning facts and skills, according to Defending Education.
The nation’s largest teachers union is planning a workshop on “Advancing LGBTQ+ Justice,” prompting criticism from a conservative national parent group that obtained the training handouts and released them to the public ahead of the session.
The National Education Association’s (NEA’s) next Focus Academy session is planned for Dec. 2 to Dec. 4. Participants will “develop a toolset of tactics for dismantling systems of privilege and oppression as it relates to LGBTQ+ educators and students,” the union’s website states.
The union’s national headquarters are in Washington, but the registration page does not disclose an address for the training. Upcoming Focus Academy sessions on advancing “racial justice” and winning school board elections are scheduled for early 2026.
Defending Education, a parent and research organization that opposes progressive curricula and policies such as transgender ideology, critical race theory, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools, obtained and released the handout in November.
“The NEA is the largest teachers’ union in the country, and they have decided to vilify half the country in an upcoming training,” Erika Sanzi, Defending Education’s senior communications director, said in an email sent to The Epoch Times. “As far as they are concerned, the only reasons anyone could oppose their preferred ideologies are racism and transphobia, and they name Republicans as villains, in writing!”
The first section of the materials is a pronoun guide with “tips for using gender-neutral pronouns.”
The next section contains Cornell University’s “Transgender Guide to Transitioning and Gender Affirmation in the Workplace.”
A guide from the National LGBTQ Task Force lists “levels of expression and oppression.” This document is not limited to gender ideology and alleges discrimination against black and Hispanic public school children, immigrants, and women in the workplace.
The NEA’s policy on LGBT employee rights is included in the handout. It includes guidance on a recent Supreme Court ruling determining that parents are allowed to opt their children out of LGBT-related instruction for religious reasons.
“The decision only requires schools to provide opt-outs on the basis of sincerely held religious beliefs and practices,” the guidance states. “It does not require schools to grant opt-outs based on parent/guardian personal, political or ideological beliefs or preferences.”
