NEA’s ‘Everyone Is Welcome’ toolkit pushes politics, not academics

As the new school year begins, four national organizations teamed up to offer teachers across the country “Everyone is Welcome Here” toolkits. While the title of the kit sounds positive and uplifting, the topics appear discriminatory and potentially exclude the vast majority of students in schools.

The kit focuses on teaching inclusive sex education, reading banned books, protecting transgender students, and climate action for the planet. Allegedly the themes are intended to support all students, but it clearly excludes students whose religious or scientific beliefs do not align with the kit’s liberal convictions.

The National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers’ union in the country, joined with Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth, and Subject to Climate to create and disseminate the free kits for the first 1,000 teachers to apply.

The NEA advertised on its Instagram page, and at least one local community group shared the information and encouraged teachers to sign up.

The RIDGE Network in the Pennridge School District has a Facebook group with almost 1,800 members, including “engaged students, parents and community members who are dedicated to illuminating the issues impacting students & teachers in the Pennridge School District.”

According to their Facebook page, “our primary goals are to defend ALL students’ right to a safe and welcoming learning environment, guard against threats to fair & balanced curricula and encourage respectful community engagement.” [emphasis original]

It is unknown whether any teachers in the Pennridge School District acquired the kit, but the post had eighteen “likes” and was reshared twice.

The NEA post proclaims the kits are intended to support all students in a classroom.

“These kits are a visible way for educators to affirm every student’s right to learn and thrive no matter what they look like, where they’re from, or how they identify.”

Despite its claims, it appears the kits are designed to only support certain groups of students.

This toolkit does not seem to affirm students whose religious or scientific beliefs do not support the idea that boys can become girls or girls can become boys. How is teaching inclusive sex ed affirming them or their convictions? And what if their parents do not want them learning about inclusive sex education?

What type of racism are they encouraging students to fight? If a white child is told they are an oppressor and responsible for slavery, is that racism? Does the toolkit instruct teachers to fight that?

Based on the overt or covert political leanings of the four organizations, we already know the answers to these questions.

This toolkit is designed to support only hard-core progressive teachers and their unabashed political agenda.

The fact that these four organizations are working together is deeply concerning. What does Planned Parenthood have to do with supporting teaching, learning, and academic outcomes? It should be nothing, but sadly, it isn’t. Planned Parenthood is a significant provider of sex change hormones and puberty blockers for both minors and adults and has faced allegations and criticism due to lack of oversight regarding services for minors.

Advocates for Youth is another left-wing group that encourages students to become activists and teachers to become allies. Their mission statement does not even attempt to hide its agenda.

“Advocates for Youth partners with young people and their adult allies to champion youth rights to bodily autonomy and build power to transform policies, programs and systems to secure sexual health and equity for all youth.”

It makes sense that Advocates for Youth would partner with Planned Parenthood with a shared mission of youth bodily autonomy — what is completely illogical is that the largest teachers’ union is working with these groups.

Notably, neither group mentions parental involvement with children. Bodily autonomy means thirteen year-olds can choose to change their gender or have an abortion without parental awareness.

Subject to Climate is another activist organization that pushes teachers to create climate change champions in the classroom. The group envisions “a world where everyone feels empowered to take action in solving climate change. To create this future, climate action begins in the classroom.”

Activism in the classroom, regardless of the left-wing cause, is the tie that binds these four groups together. Clearly climate change has nothing to do with transgender students or racism — although I am sure at least a few liberals will make this claim. And more importantly, none of this drivel has anything to do with better academic outcomes for students.

At a time when only 31 percent of fourth and eighth grade students across the country are proficient in reading, the last topic teachers need to focus on is activism. Students need more instruction in basic reading and math skills and far less time on social justice lessons.

While the NEA wants to push the propaganda that these lessons are vital to student success, the reality is the exact opposite.

“All schools must be a place where students can feel safe and have their identities affirmed in order to thrive,” the NEA website reads. “Our students need to know we see them, we hear them, and we support them. This fall, the start of the new school year provides us the opportunity to declare our commitment to students, welcoming them back to the classroom with courage and joy, free from bias, and discrimination.”

This toolkit appears chocked full of bias and discrimination. Certainly, all students have the right to be protected and feel safe in school, but this approach appears designed to only protect a very small percentage of students.

Once again, the NEA shows its true colors focusing on a progressive political agenda — that the majority of Americans do not support — while our students can’t read or do basic math.

Beth Ann Rosica resides in West Chester, has a Ph.D. in Education, and has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of at-risk children and families. She covers education issues for Broad + Liberty. Contact her at barosica@broadandliberty.com.