Mass. Teachers Association wades into, gets mired in, Israel-Palestinian debate

Re “Don’t count on an MCAS compromise” (Opinion, April 10): Thanks to Scot Lehigh for mentioning that a recent webinar on addressing anti-Palestinian racism, hosted by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, “spent the better part of two hours proffering anti-Israel and antisemitic political propaganda,” according to a letter from two Massachusetts state lawmakers.

Merrie Najimy, the former MTA president who facilitated the event, opened by saying, “For most of our career as educators, K-12, we’ve not enjoyed the professional respect to exercise academic freedom. Rather, higher authorities determine our standards and our curriculum. They demand that we teach under the shackles of fidelity, and now broader political forces with their disingenuous motives are attacking education at all levels, especially higher ed.”

Academic freedom, as a general concept, is crucial in higher education because it allows academics to experiment with new ideas, shift old paradigms, and do research that could benefit humanity, all without interference from political appointees or others seeking to turn colleges and universities into propaganda factories. However, the same principles are not appropriate in K-12 education. Despite what the MTA might hope, teachers do not enjoy free speech in their classrooms. On the contrary, what they say in front of their students — a captive audience — is a form of government speech.

One of the first slides in the MTA’s webinar was titled, “Questions to Guide Critical Thinking.” It asked, “Does this statement shame and blame the oppressed?” Further bullets asked, “Is this designed to intimidate me from standing in solidarity? Who does the statement advantage? Who does it disadvantage?” “Norms” such as these were essentially weaponized to discourage webinar participants from challenging whatever bigotry or bias they were about to hear.

If this reflects the MTA’s understanding of critical thinking, we should be wary that the MTA board of directors is said to be developing a curriculum on Israel and Palestinians for Massachusetts teachers and students.

‘Norms’ were essentially weaponized to discourage webinar participants from challenging whatever bigotry or bias they were about to hear.

DAVID SMOKLER North Chelmsford

The writer, a former public school teacher and administrator, is director of K-12 educator outreach at StandWithUs, an international, nonpartisan Israel education organization that fights antisemitism.