Mass. teachers union to remove website materials on Israel-Hamas war over concerns of antisemitism

The Massachusetts Teachers Association says it will remove objectionable materials included in an online educational resource, following concerns over antisemitism.

The union said the MTA Board of Directors had voted to share resources on the Israel-Hamas war with its members, and developed a page of materials that strove to help teachers engage in difficult conversations with students about the conflict, and consider diverse opinions.

"As trusted educators, MTA members would never want to have antisemitic materials on the MTA website, and the MTA does not promote materials that direct hate at any group. We will remove any materials that do not further the cause of promoting understanding," says a statement released on Wednesday.

The statement adds, specifically, that links to sites showing "offensive images" shown at a Feb. 10 legislative hearing of a Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism will be removed.

The union's statement adds that the resource document was a web page that was meant to be "fluid," and MTA staff understood "that links to materials would be added and deleted."

During a legislative hearing earlier this month, the House Chair of the special commission Rep. Simon Cataldo called an MTA resource page on the Israel-Hamas war "virulently antisemitic." Co-Chair Sen. John Velis said the materials were "incredibly one-sided."

Cataldo walked MTA President Max Page and attendees through dozens of pages he took issue with, including an image of a dollar bill folded up into a star of David and political posters of soldiers in keffiyeh scarves carrying assault weapons.

Page told the commission that the images and articles compiled by the MTA were behind a members-only page of their website, for teachers to consider as a resource — not automatically use in classrooms. He said they were curated as educational materials that showed diverse perspectives of a nuanced conflict.

Cataldo said in a statement shared with the News Service on Wednesday that the commission called the Feb. 10 public hearing after the MTA's own members, including both Jewish and non-Jewish public school teachers, reached out to lawmakers' offices with concerns "about outrageously one-sided and offensive materials" that the union was circulating "to 'aid pedagogy.'"

"That the MTA is only just now beginning to 'review' the resources would be laughable if the subject matter wasn't so gravely serious," Cataldo said.

In an email addressed to lawmakers sent on Wednesday, and shared with the News Service, Page said, "We had already begun a review of those resources, and our staff will identify any links that inadvertently have not lived up to our ethical standards and will be removed."

Page continued, "I would never want to have antisemitic materials on the MTA website. I would not promote materials that direct hate at any group."

In his statement, Cataldo said he and Velis have heard from MTA teachers across the state over the past week who are grateful to the commission for addressing the issue in public.

"The teachers’ outreach adds to the chorus of parents who are appalled that these materials were introduced to teachers for the purpose of 'educating' teachers and students about these complex issues," Cataldo said.

He continued, "It's deeply concerning that the MTA’s leadership not only ignored the pleas of its own members to revisit these materials, but gaslit Jewish teachers and others who formally petitioned the MTA’s board to have the materials taken down or revised. Only after over a week of intense public pressure following the February 10 public hearing is the MTA conceding that a 'review' is necessary and questioning its own actions. Apparently, the advocacy of the MTA’s own Jewish and non-Jewish members proved insufficient to dislodge the MTA from its position."

Velis said in a statement that "today's acknowledgment [by the MTA] is long overdue" after teachers' concerns had been falling "on deaf ears."

The Senate chair added that removing the materials from the MTA's website is "only one step of correcting this grave injustice and the education malpractice."

"Additionally, and as importantly, adding additional resources to reflect the nuance and balance of this incredibly complex subject is absolutely paramount," Velis said.

He added that this situation shows how "vitally important" the commission's work is.

In both the public statement and in Page's email to lawmakers, the union addresses Cataldo specifically.

Page and the House chair had a tense exchange during the Feb. 10 hearing.

Cataldo kept up an interrogation-style line of questioning to Page, and Page at times refused to answer the representative.

"I remain deeply disappointed that in my conversations with the House co-chair prior to the February 10 hearing, I had been led to believe that the commission hearing would provide the opportunity for a thoughtful discussion about how to teach this very difficult conflict with our students. Instead, the co-chair used this hearing as an opportunity to engage in political grandstanding that was disturbing to many, including other legislators," Page said in his email to lawmakers.

Cataldo said he had informed Page weeks in advance that they would be discussing the educational materials in detail. He said he told Page both that teachers had come to him with concerns, and that he reviewed the materials himself and shared concerns.

Page said in his email, "This attack based on cherry-picked items — as problematic as they are — did not advance the work of the commission."