Letter to National Education Association

July 14, 2025 
Becky Pringle, President, National Education Association 

Dear Becky, 

We write to you on behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism and Reform Movement institutions that together encompass 2 million congregants, 2,500 clergy, and 850 congregations. 

Thank you for the thoughtful conversation on Friday. As Jonah indicated, this week, we have joined with several hundred other national, state, and local Jewish organizations in a letter drafted by the ADL concerning NBI 39, which as you know was adopted at the recent NEA gathering. We want to put in our own words why the NEA's adoption of a resolution boycotting the ADL is of such concern to us in this moment but also wish to commend the many steps you have taken confronting antisemitism, our abiding appreciation for your long-time efforts in strengthening the quality of education of all Americans, and your leadership in many of the social justice and civic betterment campaigns in which we have joined together. Above all, we write knowing you share our concerns about the rise in antisemitism, both because anti-Jewish hatred is reprehensible on its own and because of the ways in which it intersects with other forms of toxic hate. 

According to the FBI, in 2023, more than half of religiously motivated hate crimes were driven by anti-Jewish bias. As such, it is deeply disappointing and troubling that the NEA has itself become a forum for anti-Jewish sentiment, including at the recent Representative Assembly (RA). 

You know from our conversations in recent days our pain and disappointment about NBI 39. Its position that NEA will not use, endorse, or publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or its statistics, nor participate in ADL programs or publicize ADL professional development offerings, is alarming in delegitimizing a major Jewish organization and counterproductive to our common efforts to counter antisemitism and hate of any kind. 

The first pillar of the Biden White House's U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism focuses on increasing awareness of and education about antisemitism in schools. The third pillar notes explicitly that "raising awareness among educators, students, parents, and school communities about the alarming rise of antisemitism and giving them the tools to address it" is vital to combatting antisemitism. It is deeply distressing that at this moment, NEA is cutting itself off from the widely used and highly respected resources that are offered by the ADL that can be essential tools, such as those called for in the authoritative National Strategy. We commend the NEA's Jewish Caucus for fighting against antisemitism and for affirming the constructive resources in fighting hate that the ADL provides. We also echo the Caucus's call for the Executive Committee to reject NBI 39. 

NEA can of course choose the resources it uses and promotes among its members. But reports that Jewish teachers who spoke against the resolution were subjected to harassment and shouted down during the proceedings are shameful. It also reflects a growing trend among teachers' unions nationwide in which Jewish educators are finding themselves marginalized and ostracized. NEA must lead efforts to fight this trend. 

We would be remiss if we did not note with appreciation that during NEA's recent gathering, the RA referred to the executive committee new business items pertaining to use of the Jewish Affairs Caucus's "Screening Out Hate" checklist and a "Combating Anti-Semitism Toolkit" to help identify and respond to anti-Jewish hate crimes and incidents. We also are pleased that the RA approved resources for classrooms to recognize Jewish American Heritage Month and hosted two sessions explicitly on antisemitism and the ways it manifests, as part of the preceding Conference on Racial and Social Justice. Another new business item related to inclusion of the U.S. Department of State's definition of anti-Semitism in the Tools for Justice-Racial Justice in Education on the NEA website. 

Nonetheless, our concerns about antisemitism within the NEA remain. As the nation's largest union, NEA must act with care and appreciate the significant substantive and symbolic impacts of its words and actions. In this moment of rising antisemitism, NEA's voice on the ADL matter and related troubling issues we noted is heard and experienced as hurtful by many within the Jewish community, while its broader efforts confronting antisemitism are deeply appreciated. 

We would welcome the chance to talk more with you about these issues and hear about the ways you are addressing these challenges. 

With appreciation,

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, URJ

Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Senior Vice President, URJ