Massachusetts Teachers Association introduces two new business items to divest pension funds from companies that support Israel and to support educators who teach “Critical Race Theory” for annual meeting of delegates

In March 2024, the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s Anti-Racism Task Force hosted a webinar that reportedly stated “Zionism is oppressive and is a propaganda machine,” according to CBS News. The MTA had previously also demanded a “ceasefire” from Israel after the nation was attacked by the terrorist group Hamas. The MTA is holding its annual meeting of delegates on April 26-27, 2024.

Merrie Najimy, who is a former MTA president and speaker of this controversial webinar, appears to also be involved with this annual meeting. A concerned union member informed Parents Defending Education that Najimy wrote two of the new business items that will be brought up for a vote.

One item is for the MTA to “divest all MTA staff pension funds and other investments from businesses that provide arms or other forms of military assistance to the state of Israel.” The union “shall likewise demand that the Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board divest all pension funds from those businesses that provide arms or other forms of military assistance to the state of Israel.” The reasoning is that the International Court of Justice said it is “plausible” that Israel is committing “genocide” and that “divestment from those companies profiting off the sale of weapons Israel uses in Palestine is one means for upholding the ICJ’s ruling.”

The second item is to protect teachers so they can continue to teach students “ethnic studies, anti-colonial studies, and LGBTQ studies, in preK-12 and higher education” as well as supporting “liberation for Palestinians and a peaceful solution to the conflict in Palestine.” This item openly defends “Critical Race Theory” and “Critical Social Justice Ideology.”