Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA)

The union garnered significant criticism for a webinar it hosted and a statement it released concerning the Israel-Hamas war in 2024 with critics such as the Anti-Defamation League and one local union chapter calling statements made by the group “antisemitic dog-whistling.” ⁴

History

The Massachusetts Teachers Association was founded in 1845 and through the 1870s the main purpose of the organization was to publish a magazine called The Massachusetts Teacher. In 1857 the MTA and the teachers association in New York led a group of 10 state associations to form the National Teachers Association, which later became the National Education Association (NEA), It is among the largest unions in the United States which exercises significant political influence on the left. ⁵

In 1911, the Massachusetts Teachers Federation was formed, which was a federation of local teachers’ unions and considered the forerunner to the modern MTA. The MTA folded into the MTF in 1919 and eventually, the group’s name was changed back to the Massachusetts Teachers Association. ⁵

In the 1960s, teachers were given the ability to collectively bargain in Massachusetts, which increased the influence of the MTA significantly. The union has consistently been engaged in lawsuits in state courts alleging that the state has inadequately funded public education under the state constitution. ¹

In 2019 the group’s “Found Our Future Coalition” pushed for the passage of the Student Opportunity Act, which called for an additional $2 billion in public school funding. ¹

Activity

In addition to its engagement in litigation and collective bargaining, the Massachusetts Teachers Association lobbies the state legislature on a variety of topics. During the 2023-2024 legislative session, the group supported the “Educator Diversity Act, which is aimed at recruiting and retaining educators of color.” The union also supports changing state law to allow for teachers to go on strike and close schools. ²

The union endorsed Democratic candidates for public office in Massachusetts, often selecting left-of-center candidates in Democratic primaries. The union endorsed Maura Healey (D) for Governor in 2022. ³

In February 2025, local lobbying group Raise Up Massachusetts, which has received support from the MTA as well as the Massachusetts state chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) filed a lawsuit to prevent a ballot initiative that would reduce the state’s income tax rate from 5 percent to 4 percent from being voted on. According to a report by the Washington Free Beacon, the group claimed the proposal is “unconstitutional” as it “fails to inform petition signers and voters” that such a cut would be placed on “capital gains in addition to wages and interest.” ⁶ The report also stated that the initiative was in response to a separate pro-union ballot measure that would increase income state tax by 4 percent on those earning over $1 million per year. In response, a spokesperson for the group supporting the income tax reduction initiative, Taxpayers for an Affordable Massachusetts, criticized the lawsuit as “fearmongering” and that “this ballot question will put $1,300 (on average) back in the pockets of working families across the Commonwealth at a time when it is desperately needed.” ⁶

Advocacy

Anti-Israeli Views

In December 2023, the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) approved a motion “calling on the U.S. to end its complicity in Israel’s “genocidal war” against Palestinians.” In the motion, the union’s leadership “promised to help pressure the Biden administration to cease sending aid to the Jewish state, noting that thousands of Palestinians have been “brutally killed” in the “U.S.-backed assault by the Israeli military.’” ⁴ MTA was criticized by local Newton Teachers Association at the time, which said it “unequivocally dissociates itself from this statement and, in particular, from its antisemitic dog-whistling.” ⁴

In March 2024 the MTA hosted a webinar titled “The Struggle Against Anti-Palestinian Racism” and included topics such as “how does Palestine fit into the larger framework of colonialism and imperialism?” and “why is anti-Zionism not anti-Semitism?” The New England chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned the union’s programming stating that “By expressly rejecting anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism and invoking frameworks of ‘colonialism and imperialism’ in a discussion regarding Israel/Palestine, this programming reinforces antisemitic and anti-Israel falsehoods.” ⁴

Later in March that year, Defending Education received a series of email exchanges by MTA board member Joe Herosy responding to an earlier email inviting him and other MTA board members to a webinar on antisemitism. In response, Herosy accused the “Israel lobby” of being “a tool of US Imperialism as opposed to the common false idea that Israel is controlling US policy,” ⁷ accused Israel of genocide while also accusing Europeans of “settler colonialism, and further claimed the State of Israel was “…a racist apartheid regime that has been propped up by billions in annual US funding.” ⁷ In addition, the email chain saw Herosy attack the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) as being “explicitly dedicated to supporting the apartheid state of Israel” ⁷ while also accusing Israel of committing “ethnic cleansing.” ⁷

Also in March 2024, the MTA’s “Anti-Racism Task Force” hosted a webinar claiming that “Zionism is oppressive and is a propaganda machine.” ⁸ In addition, the group’s annual meeting of delegates took place in April 2024 where members demanded the MTA “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” ⁸ and for the “Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board [to] divest all pension funds from those businesses that provide arms or other forms of military assistance to the state of Israel.” ⁸ The meeting also called for educators to continue teach on topics such as “ethnic studies, anti-colonial studies, and LGBTQ studies, in preK-12 and higher education” as well as “liberation for Palestinians and a peaceful solution to the conflict in Palestine.” ⁸

In October 2024, MTA partnered with Massachusetts Peace Action (MPA) to host a webinar titled “Books Not Bombs 2024: Increasing Federal Investment in Public Education” to discuss topics such as “…how the November 5th election and political battles over education could shape the future of classrooms across the nation.” ⁹ Speakers at the event included staff with the MTA as well as employees of Cambridge Public Schools and the National Education Association (NEA). Other speakers had allegedly made anti-Israeli comments, promoted teaching children about “sexuality and gender identity,” accused then-former President Donald Trump of being a “fascist” while criticizing “crypto dark money.” ⁹

According to Defending Education, as of February 2025 the MTA has posted several “Lesson Plans” online with instructions for educators to teach students on “Anti-Oppression” with links provided by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) project Learning for Justice as well as Rethinking Schools. Such lesson plans include “Teaching Palestine,” “Transgender Justice in Schools,” and “Teaching that Food Justice is Racial Justice.” ¹⁰

On February 10, 2025, a hearing by the Massachusetts Commission on Combating Antisemitism was held to discuss evidence of the MTA pushing educators to use anti-Israel rhetoric and materials following the Hamas terror attacks against the State of Israel on October 7, 2023. According to Defending Education, this included using phrases such as “Zionist bullies” as well as displaying “Free Palestine” materials. MTA president Max Page spoke before the Commission and defended the use of such materials while trying to deflect by criticizing Tesla CEO Elon Musk for allegedly making a “Nazi salute” as well as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for defending him. ¹¹