The effects of immigration enforcement, artificial intelligence, and other issues in schools topped teachers’ concerns at the annual meeting of the National Education Association here, but delegates held tight to the union’s purse strings with an eye to ongoing state and national legislative fights.
By the third day of the assembly, representatives of the nation’s largest teachers’ union approved spending roughly half its $1.94 million national contingency fund—used for both new business items and to provide emergency support for state and local unions’ litigation or advocacy—amounting to a cost of 25 cents per member.
An aura of fiscal prudence hung over the proceedings: Delegates nixed several new business items that they didn’t oppose outright on financial grounds.
“I have voted against [new business items] that I am incredibly passionate about. Why? Because I believe … it is our responsibility to recognize that our contingency budget is limited and needed not only for future [business] but to support states and locals,” said Amber Davis, a first-time delegate and 11-year behavioral special education teacher from Utah.
Davis noted that national emergency support had been critical to help Utah unions overturn a state law that would have banned collective bargaining for public-sector workers and called for delegates to “vote with the big picture in mind.”
NEA’s annual Representative Assembly, which opened on Independence Day weekend, dedicated a quarter of the four-day assembly to training 5,800 representatives of the union’s more than 2.8 million members on local advocacy and organizing. Both current President Becky Pringle and President-Elect Princess Moss said the national union is prioritizing bolstering and connecting local affiliates, particularly in states with legislative restrictions on unions.
Most of the new business still included a voice vote, in which delegates yell the traditional “yea” or “nay” to guide the process, but this year began voting electronically—with a few hiccups—for new business and legislative decisions.
Immigration tops concerns
Initiatives related to immigrant students and teachers drew some of the most expensive proposals and most emotional debates.
In the biggest-ticket initiative approved as of press time, the assembly agreed—after two close and hotly debated votes—to create a nearly $200,000 emergency fund to help an estimated 14,000 to 20,000 teachers working in U.S. schools under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
DACA, a subject of ongoing litigation by the Trump administration, provides work authorization and deportation protection for immigrants brought to the country as children before 2007. NEA leaders cautioned that the fund will be narrowly focused, as federal law forbids providing monetary support to undocumented immigrants.
Tatiana Montea, a first-time delegate from Florida, said the fund was important to protect teachers already in the classroom at a time when fewer teachers enter and remain in the profession. “I have had the pleasure and privilege of teaching with DACA recipients and other immigrant teachers. They are some of the most dedicated, compassionate, and resilient educators I have ever known,” Montea said. “Many have made, made tremendous sacrifices, including being separated from their families, simply to pursue their calling.”
Delegates separately referred to the union’s executive committee a proposed $314,000 study and report on the effects of Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies and enforcement on Latino educators generally and on DACA teachers in particular. Delegates also voted to call for more resources on identifying local law enforcement agencies partnering with ICE enforcement.
A shield against ‘AI identity theft’
Teachers also voiced concern that school district policies and union protocols have not kept pace with technology used to target educators. Even beyond the implications for teaching and learning, delegates are worried about how AI and other technologies could be used to smear teachers and even ruin their reputations.
“This is not hypothetical. Generative AI can now create deepfake photos, videos, and audio using a real person’s face and voice without their knowledge or their consent,” said Janet Caldwell, a Washington state delegate who supported the proposal. “By the time the truth comes out, the damage is already done. A permanent record, a lost job, a shattered reputation.”
Callie Day, an Arkansas middle school teacher said she has seen increasing use of fake social media accounts and videos to humiliate and endanger teachers and administrators with realistic facsimilies.
Delegates also voted to approve Day’s proposal to develop model national, state, and local policies to protect educators and students from discipline caused by AI-related identity theft.
The union will continue to field new business through tomorrow.
