The National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest teachers union, has approved a plan to implement Critical Race Theory (CRT) in 14,000 school districts across all 50 states.
A document obtained by Manhattan Institute Fellow Christopher Rufo shows that the union approved a plan to spend more than $127,000 to “oppose attempts to ban critical race theory and/or The 1619 Project.”
BREAKING: The nation’s largest teachers union has approved a plan to promote critical race theory in all 50 states and 14,000 local school districts.
The argument that “critical race theory isn’t in K-12 schools” is officially dead. pic.twitter.com/BMRDoAK0sA
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 3, 2021
CRT holds that America is fundamentally racist and teaches students to view every social interaction and person in terms of race. It advocates for the pursuit of “antiracism” through the end of merit, objective truth and the adoption of race-based policies. The 1619 Project, written by New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones, holds that America’s “true founding” occurred when slaves arrived in the colonies. It attempts to rework the teaching of history to center around slavery and its consequences.
The NEA’s plan will include funding for publicizing information about CRT, money for “a team of staffers for members who want to learn more and fight back against anti-CRT rhetoric,” and will promote critiques “cisheteropatriarchy,” “anthropocentricism,” capitalism, and “other forms of power and oppression at the intersections of our society.” NEA president Becky Pringle also said she’d make public statements in support of CRT. (RELATED: Teachers Unions Still Oppose Schools Immediately Reopening Despite CDC Study Showing Little Risk)
Another business item adopted by the union includes a task force to explore “the role of law enforcement in education,” including a collaboration with groups that support abolishing police presence in schools. The plan, according to the document, would “result in increasing the implementation of culturally responsive education, critical race theory, and ethnic (Native people Asian, Black, Latin(0/a/x), Middle Eastern, North African, and Pacific Islander) Studies curriculum in pre- K-12 and higher education.”
The document additionally promises to join with Black Lives Matter and call for a rally October 14, George Floyd’s birthday, to support “a national day of action to teach lessons about structural racism and oppression.”
The union has also approved funding for “increasing the implementation” of CRT in K-12 curricula and for attacking conservative groups who oppose CRT indoctrination.
The teachers union has made critical race theory its #1 priority—and want to implement it nationwide. pic.twitter.com/QaeTBouTf2
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 4, 2021
Rufo urged parents to push back against the union’s efforts to promote CRT, with some parents across the country already standing up to the curriculum by making their voices heard in school board meetings. At least 165 local and national groups have formed to combat CRT, according to an NBC News analysis.
“The NEA represents 3 million public school employees in all 50 states. They have a $350 million annual budget and an army of operatives in 14,000 local communities,” Rufo said on Twitter. “They have now declared war on parents who oppose critical race theory — and parents must fight back!”