National Education Association webinar advises teachers on how to combat a second Trump administration; speaker explains “we were born for this moment”

On January 15, 2025, the National Education Association (NEA) hosted a webinar titled “Preparing for a Second Trump Administration.” The webinar advised teachers on how to combat President Donald Trump’s second administration with multiple speakers providing advice. The meeting started with a transgender individual leading a “land acknowledgment.” This individual accused the United States of “settler colonialism” and accused Trump of wanting to carry through with “land grabs.” This individual is part of the NEA’s “Aspiring Educators Program.”

A major discussion from the webinar was supporting students who are illegal immigrants against the Trump administration. The speaker in this part of the webinar said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deporting illegal immigrants will be “shocking to people” and asked what aspiring teachers could do to push back. She said there is a role for teachers to play to make students feel less afraid of immigration enforcement. She also said that schools could increase the number of counselors to help with this issue.

The speakers at one point in the webinar claim that teaching “social and racial justice” is teaching “true history.” A speaker then states that being against teaching these issues in school curricula is an “unpopular” stance. She attacks Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters and claims that pushing against “social and racial Justice” is a “circus.” She claims that the larger goal is to “privatize and dismantle schools.”

The speaker later states that she believes “we may have come out of the worst part of the school culture wars, at least this round.” She then labeled parental rights organizations as “extremist groups” and that these groups “move from issue to issue.” She states that the newest issues are not as strong as critical race theory was previously.

The next speaker was an NEA member announced as the “chair of the NEA sexual orientation and gender identity committee and a board director for the American Civil Liberties Union.” She announced her pronouns as “ella, she, her, hers.” She said that she was “concerned” about Trump winning the 2024 election.

This speaker states that Utah introduced legislation to prohibit teachers from flying the rainbow pride flag in classrooms and that the ACLU will fight this legislation. She then listed issues that the ACLU covers, including “abortion,” “immigrants’ rights,” “racial justice,” “transgender rights,” and “voting rights.” One resource shown in the webinar was titled “Stop the Trump Administration: No Mass Deportations.” The speaker said the ACLU already had a plan in place to fight against Trump before he had won the election with a “Firewall for Freedom” initiative. She states: “We were born for this moment.” She also states that the second Trump administration will be “worse” than the first.

The speaker states that the ACLU has resources for teachers and has a whole department for transgender issues. She explains that the ACLU will bring “legal observers” if teachers want to hold protests. She then talks about pride flags in Utah classrooms again:

I’m here to tell you the pride flag’s going to be in my classroom. I don’t care what anyone says. The pride flag’s going to be there. So is the trans flag. So is the Black Lives Matter flag. They’re going to be in my room.