![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/pringle2.avif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRebecca Pringle speaks during March for Our Lives 2022 on June 11, 2022 in Washington, D.C.(Paul Morigi\/Getty Images for March For Our Lives)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The rejection on Friday night comes after the delegates\u2019 proposal earlier this month to bar the union from using, endorsing or publicizing any materials from the ADL drew condemnation from prominent Jewish organizations across the country.<\/p>\n
In a statement announcing the board\u2019s rejection of the proposal Friday, Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, emphasized that the decision was not a statement of support for the ADL. She also called on the Jewish civil rights watchdog to \u201csupport the free speech\u201d of students and educators, in an apparent allusion to criticism of the ADL for opposing some forms of pro-Palestinian advocacy in schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cNEA opposes efforts to shut down debate, to silence voices of disagreement, and intimidation. \u2026 Not adopting this proposal is in no way an endorsement of the ADL\u2019s full body of work,\u201d wrote Pringle. \u201cWe are calling on the ADL to support the free speech and association rights of all students and educators.\u201d<\/p>\n
The initial proposal approved by the NEA\u2019s delegates offered a striking example of a growing shift away from the ADL by progressives who have soured during the war in Gaza at the organization\u2019s staunch pro-Israel activism and advocacy that treats much criticism of Israel as antisemitism.<\/p>\n
The board\u2019s rejection comes a week after the ADL spearheaded a letter signed by 400 Jewish organizations and congregations across the country that called on the NEA to reject the proposal and condemn and address antisemitism within its union.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe effort to exclude ADL\u2019s voice from educational spaces at a time of skyrocketing antisemitism \u2014 including in K-12 classrooms \u2014 speaks volumes about the climate within NEA that allowed this measure to pass, and the lack of understanding, if not outright hostility, behind it,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n
Following the ADL\u2019s letter, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which coordinates advocacy for Jewish community relations, also sent a letter to Pringle urging the NEA to reject the ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne does not need to align with the ADL on every issue; but choosing to cut off all engagement and dialogue runs counter to our shared goals of countering antisemitism and broader hate and bias,\u201d wrote JCPA CEO Amy Spitalnick.<\/p>\n
In another letter following the NEA\u2019s original vote to approve the ADL ban, Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel lobby, also condemned the decision but rejected the ADL\u2019s claims that the decision was fueled by antisemitism, writing that it \u201cdemeans the meaning of antisemitism and runs the risk of fanning its flames.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the NEA board\u2019s rejection, the leaders of the ADL, American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and Jewish Federations of North America issued a statement welcoming the decision and calling on the union to communicate to its members how their proposal was \u201charmful to educators, students and families concerned about the rise of antisemitism and hate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile teachers\u2019 unions have little power to dictate curriculum, divisive campaigns to boycott reputable, centrist Jewish organizations and educators normalize antisemitic isolation, othering, and marginalization of Jewish teachers, students and families in our schools,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n