NJEA Members and Allies Say, "Yes, drop the ADL!"
NJEA Officers and Executive Directors: Sean Spiller, Steve Beatty, Petal Robertson, Tina Dare, Kevin Kelleher, and Denise Policastro
Yes, Drop the ADL!
On July 6, the 7,000-member Representative Assembly (RA) of the National Education Assocation (NEA) voted to approve New Business Item #39 which commits the NEA to “not use, endorse, or publicize materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or statistics.” The brief rationale was: “Despite its reputation as a civil rights organization, the ADL is not the social justice educational partner it claims to be.” A more extensive rationale can be found at Drop the ADL.
We need to hold the union leadership accountable, at the national, state, and local levels. This petition is addressed to the leadership of the New Jersey Education Association. We must ensure that they don't back-slide and that they follow through on this important step: Drop the ADL. The ADL is not a social justice partner. It actively helps to harass our members, it harms academic freedom, and it provides cover for the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
Petition by
To:
NJEA Officers and Executive Directors: Sean Spiller, Steve Beatty, Petal Robertson, Tina Dare, Kevin Kelleher, and Denise Policastro
From:
[Your Name]
We, the undersigned members of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and community allies, stand in support of the National Education Association’s (NEA) Representative Assembly's (RA) decision to sever ties with the Anti-Defamation League.
On July 6, the 7,000 member RA voted to approve New Business Item #39 which commits the NEA to “not use, endorse, or publicize materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or statistics.” The brief rationale was: “Despite its reputation as a civil rights organization, the ADL is not the social justice educational partner it claims to be.”
However, on July 18, the NEA Executive Committee and Board of Directors overturned this democratically made decision.
We NJEA members and allies condemn the reversal of the RA vote. We encourage NJEA, which calls itself a social justice organization, to follow suit of the original RA vote: drop the ADL! The ADL actively helps to harass our members, it harms academic freedom, and it provides cover for the ongoing genocide of Palestinians
A more extensive rationale can be found at https://droptheadl.org/ and https://droptheadlfromschools.org/.