Education

America’s Largest Teachers Union Votes To Continue Anti-ICE Activism, Elects Socialist

Wikimedia Commons/Public/Fibonacci Blue, CC BY 4.0

The largest teachers union in the United States appears to be leaning into political activism.

The National Education Association (NEA) elected new leadership — one of whom has been associated with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — passed resolutions to publish anti-ICE and pro-gender ideology material, and raised dues by $10 during its recent convention, according to documents obtained by Defending Education (DE). Around 6,000 delegates gathered in Denver, Colorado, for the NEA’s 2026 Representative Assembly from July 3-7.

“The NEA is asking teachers to pay higher dues so it can spend more money influencing elections, training political candidates, and organizing against ICE and Israel,” DE senior communications director Erika Sanzi told the DCNF. “That’s not a professional association focused on supporting its members—it’s a political advocacy organization whose leadership doesn’t reflect, let alone represent, the teachers it pretends to serve.”

Delegates elected United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) president Cecily Myart-Cruz to NEA’s Executive Committee, according to a document obtained by DE. Myart-Cruz was one of the keynote speakers at the DSA’s 2019 National Convention.

Delegates also elected former NEA vice president Princess Moss to serve as the nearly 3-million member teacher union’s next president during the assembly, according to a NEA press release.

Moss and Myart-Cruz did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment. DSA declined to comment.

“Together, we will continue fighting for the resources, respect, and professional voice educators deserve because when we invest in public education, we invest in the future of every student,” Moss stated in the press release. “I look forward to building on our union’s proud legacy and working alongside our members to ensure every student, in every ZIP code, has access to a high-quality public education.”

Moss has frequently posted about her pastor, Alfred Street Baptist Church’s Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, who referred to Charlie Kirk as evil and a “weapon of the enemy,” and said he could not honor “a man who was an unapologetic racist” during a sermon days after Kirk was assassinated in September 2025.

One resolution the assembly’s delegates passed is for NEA to publish resources discussing the “destructive impact” of agreements between local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to DE. Another is for it to publish resources “outlining the harms of conversion therapy on queer individuals.”

“The Representative Assembly is an opportunity for educators to come together and chart a course toward stronger public schools so every student can reach their full potential,” a NEA spokesperson told the DCNF. “This year, members voted to support efforts to ensure every school has at least one full-time, registered nurse; increase personnel to allow for more hands-on instruction for students; and bolster training and support for new Career and Technical Education teachers – all with the goal of improving student outcomes and supporting the educators who prepare our students for a brighter future.”

Workshops for the assembly’s attendees included “Championing Every Student by Engaging Race, Class, and Community Power,” “Everyone Belongs Here: Tools for Supporting LGBTQ+ Students, Educators, Parents, and Communities,” and “Hope Floats!: Organizing for Power to Anchor Racial and Social Justice in the Floods of Authoritarianism,” according to another document obtained by DE.

NEA executive director Kim Anderson told the assembly that the teachers union won 83% of its ballot measure fights.

“While this White House spends its time and our taxpayer dollars building golden ballrooms and banning books, NEA continues to stand in our values and fight back,” Anderson said, lauding outgoing NEA president Becky Pringle’s efforts to combat the U.S. Department of Education’s anti-DEI policies.

“We don’t need to just be at the table. We need to own the table,” Anderson said before noting that over 4,000 NEA members were elected to various political offices within the past four years.