Concerns Regarding NEA's Relationship with Zinn Education Project

5 days ago
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The NEA Jewish Affairs Caucus Executive Committee share their concerns regarding the National Education Association platforming Zinn Education Project today.

Dear President Pringle and Members of the NEA Executive Committee,

As members of the NEA Jewish Affairs Caucus, we write to express concern regarding NEA’s ongoing promotion of the Zinn Education Project and its sponsoring organizations, Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change.

NEA’s Continued Promotion of Zinn-Affiliated Organizations

In July 2025, delegates voted down NBI #68, a proposal to formally partner with the Zinn Education Project, at the 2025 National Education Association Representative Assembly.¹ Despite the vote, NEA has continued to platform Zinn Education Project materials, effectively circumventing the expressed will of the Representative Assembly, despite Jewish delegates raising concerns regarding misrepresentation of Jewish and Israeli history and identity in Zinn-affilitated materials on the Representative Assembly floor.² This raises significant concerns about governance, transparency, fidelity to member direction, and warrants serious review under NEA's own non-discrimination standards.

Conflict with NEA Mission, Constitution, Bylaws, and Standing Rules

NEA's mission is to "advocate for education professionals and unite members, the nation, and communities to fulfill the promise of public education, ensuring it prepares every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world."³ Promotion of Zinn-affiliated materials contradicts this mission in three ways: it harms Jewish members and students, it fails to meet appropriate standards of pedagogy, which teachers and parents should expect from union-endorsed materials, and it defies NEA’s own vote to reject partnership with Zinn Education Project.

NEA’s own governing documents require that its partnerships and promoted resources align with non-discriminatory standards and educational objectives. Under Bylaw 5-7(g), the Association may establish relationships only with organizations “whose policies or practices are not discriminatory,” and such relationships must be reviewed regularly to determine continuation.⁴ These obligations are reinforced by the NEA Code of Ethics for Educators, which requires accuracy, intellectual honesty, and non-discriminatory learning environments.⁵

Zinn-affiliated materials present one-sided narratives, distorting aspects of Jewish identity and history, and frame Jewish self-determination in ways that contribute to exclusionary or hostile environments for many Jewish and Israeli-Americans. The promotion of these materials raises questions regarding compliance with NEA’s own Bylaws, ethical standards, and commitment to safe and inclusive schools.

State-Level Distribution of Zinn Resources

NEA’s endorsement also has downstream consequences. State affiliates follow suit, distributing Zinn Education Project materials to their members. Even when articles do not explicitly address Israel, they direct educators and students to Zinn’s broader content ecosystem, such as Rethinking Schools, which includes materials that many Jewish educators have reported as presenting Jewish identity in ways that are reductive or stigmatizing. Educator reports also describe incidents in which Jewish participants were made to feel unwelcome in affiliated sessions (see Appendix A), including one instance in which a Jewish educator was reportedly escorted out of a session for his own safety after attempting to engage equally in discussion on the central topic (see Appendix B).⁶ Promoting biased or one-sided curriculum harms all students’ critical thinking and violates NEA's own mission to prepare students to "succeed in a diverse and interdependent world."

Civil Rights Complaints Reflecting Zinn-Associated Framing

Cases involving antisemitic harassment in K–12 schools have included classroom instruction and educator conduct reflecting themes commonly found in materials associated with the Zinn Education Project and its sponsoring organizations. In a federal civil rights matter involving the School District of Philadelphia, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the District’s response to antisemitic harassment, including classroom instruction and educator social media, failed to meet its obligations under Title VI.⁷ Educators were described as using classroom materials and social media to frame the Israel–Palestine conflict using terms such as “genocide” and “settler colonialism,” contributing to a hostile environment for Jewish students. At issue is not the discussion of controversial viewpoints, but the presentation of contested claims as settled fact in ways that can contribute to a hostile environment and undermine professional standards. The complaint references “Teacher A,” identified through publicly available information as Keziah Ridgeway, who has been associated with Rethinking Schools, a sponsoring organization of the Zinn Education Project.⁸ Although the Zinn Education Project is not a named party, similar framing and affiliated contributors raise concerns about how Zinn-aligned materials may manifest in classrooms.

We offer these concerns in good faith and stand ready to work collaboratively with NEA leadership to ensure that endorsed resources reflect NEA’s highest ideals and protect the dignity and safety of all students and educators.

Respectfully,

The NEA Jewish Affairs Caucus Executive Committee

Supporting Citations

National Education Association, New Business Item #68 (2025 Representative Assembly). “NEA will utilize existing media outlets to inform members about the free resources and professional development opportunities available through Zinn Education…”
National Education Association, Black Lives Matter at School (Nov. 10, 2021; updated Jan. 22, 2026), https://www.nea.org/resource-library/black-lives-matter-school; Black History Month Lessons & Resources (Dec. 16, 2020; updated Feb. 23, 2026), https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/black-history-month-lessons-resources.
National Education Association, Mission, Vision, and Values, https://www.nea.org/about-nea/mission-vision-values (accessed April 15, 2026).
National Education Association, Bylaws of the National Education Association of the United States (2025–2026), Bylaw 5-7(g).
National Education Association, Code of Ethics of the Education Profession (adopted 1975; last revised 2021), https://www.nea.org/resource-library/code-ethics-educators.
Reports from New Jersey Education Association delegates regarding a Rethinking Schools session (2026); on file with One Nation of Educators.
Anti-Defamation League, Supplemental Title VI Complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights regarding the School District of Philadelphia (July 23, 2024), https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/2024-07/adl-and-sdp-complaint.pdf
Kezia Ridgeway (@teachkizzyteach), Instagram post, https://www.instagram.com/p/DFoKlMquSTz/; Rethinking Schools, Teach Palestine Webinar (May 26, 2024), https://rethinkingschools.org/2024/05/26/teach-palestine-a-rethinking-schools-webinar/.

Appendix A

Appendix B

A contemporaneous account from inside the Rethinking School Session at the 2025 NJEA Convention, as reported to the NEA Jewish Affairs Caucus:

“The presenter, Adam Sanchez, went into some depth on his background, pointing out several times he is Jewish and explaining he is from a left-wing Zionist family but he is anti-Zionist now. He seemingly was apologetic for his Jewish education that taught him about Israel, claiming it was "biased." He explained that he is co-author of the Teach Palestine Curriculum, explaining it is to “correct” these wrongs. He spoke at length in the beginning about efforts to prevent his presenting the Teach Palestine Curriculum. Sanchez put a picture up of New Jersey Rep. Gotthheimer who had expressed serious concerns about the NJEA hosting this workshop. Adam expressed disdain for their opinions. He then thanked the NJEA for putting this workshop on and, in his words, “teaching the truth.” More worrisome is that he expressed and posited the position that if you disagreed with this workshop or “wanted it canceled”, you are “a fascist.” He continued by vilifying the ADL, calling them collaborators equivalent to McCarthyism and fascists. He extended this belief to anyone that shared the same concerns. It should be noted that this is how he is presenting the curriculum to teachers, who will in turn present it this way to their students. Next, Sanchez stated “We need to separate antisemitism from Zionism and Zionism from Judaism” and went on to say “It is fascism to believe this.” (that Zionism has a relation to Judaism).”

“He called Teach Palestine “teaching the truth.” But there are many errors. He spoke of “Justice for Palestinians” but never once mentioned justice for Jews or Israelis. He didn’t explain exactly what that “justice” was to look like. Based on the material, the conversations, and presentation, extinguishing Israel and the ethnic cleansing of every Jew from the Jewish homeland is how they perceive it. Several people I engaged with expressed this idea - “From the River to the Sea.” Sanchez used several prejudicial terms to describe Israel and the current conflict with Gaza and defined none of them nor provided any proof to support his claim. Throughout the time in the workshop several attendees echoed these same sentiments. Terms used to describe Israel and what was happening in Gaza included: “There is a genocide in Gaza and Israel is committing it”; “Israel is starving people in Gaza”; Jewish communities are “Illegal settlements”; Israel is a “Settler colonialist State” or “Settler Colonialism”; “Israelis (Jews) are white supremacist”, “Israel is a racist state”,“Israel is an apartheid state”, “Israel is ethnically cleansing Palestinians”; “Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land and there is an illegal Occupation”; he expressed the Right of return for Arabs (Palestinians) and several participants did as well.”

“Reviewing just his opening remarks to the presentation, Adam Sanchez essentially said that anyone who disagreed with him is a fascist and if you voice those concerns or let anyone know, you are a McCarthyian collaborator. There were several low cheers to this in agreement and it certainly was echoed by several attendees. Is this really what and how we want to educate our youth? His statements prove exactly why there was rightful concern for the workshop being allowed to move forward. One participant who expressed the Right of Return was asked by me “What happens to the Jews?” He hesitated and eventually stated that “They can live there still. I pointed out that Abu Mazan said no Jew would ever live in a Palestinian state. He said that’s not what he said. I said, OK, he actually said “no Israeli,” but that is the same thing to him. The male participant nodded and had no answer to retort. I followed that up by asking again, “What will happen to the Jews?” He had no answer to that either, nor did his wife or any other person there listening. He continued to claim Israel is trying to ethnically cleanse Palestinians and his solution is to ethnically cleanse Jews. He kept saying this is my reality. I said it is your perception of your reality, it is not everyone's. I don’t think he liked my answer. ”

“Participants who disagreed with alternative opinions on the merits of the Teach Palestine curriculum or who corrected factual mistakes became very hostile and even belligerent, especially when corrected with facts. They yelled their responses. At which point they dismissed the facts and said things like: “it is still that reality now,” “It is my reality,” and “That’s not the point” and “You didn’t come here to learn,” when confronted with facts.”