NEA halts bid to cut ties with Jewish organization

Politico

21-07-2025

With help from Rebecca Carballo
NEA BACKS OFF — The National Education Association's top brass shot down their members' bid to block future work with the Anti-Defamation League following criticism from Jewish organizations and renewed conservative scrutiny of the union's congressional charter.
— NEA President Becky Pringle, in a lengthy statement issued late Friday, said the union's board of directors and executive committee voted against a proposal members narrowly approved for consideration on July 5 during the union's annual assembly of thousands of local representatives.
— 'We consulted with NEA state affiliates and civil rights leaders, including Jewish American and Arab American community leaders, and we also met with ADL leadership,' Pringle said. 'After consideration, it was determined that this proposal would not further NEA's commitment to academic freedom, our membership, or our goals.'
— Union delegates had recommended the NEA 'not use, endorse, or publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation League' such as curricular materials or statistics, while blocking the union from participating in ADL programs or publicizing the organization's professional development offerings.
— The proposal to preempt ties with a prominent Jewish advocacy organization highlighted ongoing internal union divisions over the Israel-Gaza war that threatened to disrupt the NEA's planned endorsement of Joe Biden's campaign last year.
— 'This resolution was not just an attack on the ADL, but a larger attack against Jewish educators, students, and families,' ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations COO Stephanie Hausner, and Jewish Federations of North America Executive Vice President Shira Hutt said Friday in a joint statement.
— 'While teachers' unions have little power to dictate curriculum, divisive campaigns to boycott reputable, centrist Jewish organizations and educators normalize antisemitic isolation, othering, and marginalization of Jewish teachers, students and families in our schools,' they said.
— Republican lawmakers further cited the proposal as added fodder for longrunning attempts to strip the NEA of a congressional charter — a type of formal recognition the union has received alongside dozens of other private or quasi-governmental nonprofit organizations.
— 'The National Education Association has made it crystal clear it's a partisan organization, and it shouldn't be rewarded with a federal charter that platforms woke gender ideology, antisemitism, and left-wing propaganda,' Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said last week as she introduced the latest Republican bill to erase the NEA's charter.
— Pringle responded that 'without equivocation, NEA stands strongly against antisemitism.' But she acknowledged debate over a destructive and prolonged conflict will continue among students, educators, religious leaders and politicians.
— 'Not adopting this proposal is in no way an endorsement of the ADL's full body of work,' Pringle said Friday. 'We are calling on the ADL to support the free speech and association rights of all students and educators.'
IT'S MONDAY, JULY 21. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. Congressional Republicans really like the 2017 Trump tax cuts. It's why the 'big, beautiful bill' costs so much.
Reach out with tips to today's host at [e-mail] and also my colleagues Becca Carballo ([e-mail]), Bianca Quilantan ([e-mail]) and Mackenzie Wilkes ([e-mail]).
Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories.
Education Department
REJECTED — The Education Department will reject nearly a half-million applications from people seeking to make lower payments on their student loans, Becca reports.
— The agency will deny 460,000 federal student loan borrowers who selected the lowest monthly option for a payment plan based on their income. They make up about 31 percent of a 1.5 million application backlog for borrowers who are seeking Income-Driven Repayment, one of many options typically available for borrowers having difficulty paying back their loans.
— An Education Department spokesperson said the lowest monthly payment option was the SAVE Plan, a Biden-era plan that would cap payments at 5 percent of the borrower's discretionary income for undergraduate loans and 10 percent for graduate loans. It has been blocked by the courts since June 2024.
— 'Loan servicers cannot process these applications as SAVE is no longer an option, as it is illegal,' a department spokesperson said.
— The agency is introducing two new payment plans and phasing out the matrix of current options as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping reconciliation legislation. His administration has railed against SAVE for being a burden to taxpayers and called for simplifying the loan repayment process as part of a broader strategy to reshape how students borrow and pay back loans.
White House
CHECK PLEASE — The Trump administration will release some fiscal 2025 funds that help pay for summer and after-school programs today, which could help ease an immediate budget crunch facing local school systems while billions of dollars in additional federal aid are still being withheld by the White House.
— An Office of Management and Budget review of the Education Department's 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is complete, according to a senior administration official who said the money — estimated to total approximately $1.3 billion — will be distributed as expected.
— Education Department officials said the money will be sent to governments on Monday, according to notices shared with federal and local officials that were obtained by POLITICO.
— The department, however, warned states to ensure the money is spent in accordance with existing federal civil rights and anti-discrimination laws — or risk 'appropriate enforcement action.' The agency also intends to review how the program's money is used 'to ensure ongoing compliance,' officials said.
— Billions in federal education funding is still being withheld by the White House. Funds devoted to teacher training, migrant student education and other initiatives are under continued scrutiny as part of Trump's broader agenda of scrutinizing matters related to immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.
— 'These are the programs that we have some of the gravest concerns with regarding the Education Department,' OMB Director Russ Vought told reporters last week during an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
— 'You have a preschool program that doesn't do any preschool funding, all it does is indoctrination of 4-year-olds of [critical race theory],' Vought said. 'You have school improvement programs that are indoctrinating teachers to be cultural revolutionaries in the classroom. So we have concerns with these programs, so they're the ones that we're going to study the most.'
— Final decisions related to the billions of dollars in pending federal aid have not yet been made, department officials said on Friday. Two dozen and the District of Columbia states sued the Trump administration last week to challenge the delayed funding. Prominent Republicans are also challenging the administration to release the funds.
STUDENT DEBT
CHANGE IS COMING — The Education Department is outlining some expected immediate changes to federal student aid programs now that Trump's domestic policy megabill has been signed into law.
— Regulations and guidance on other education provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are also expected later this year. Here's what to expect now, according to a Dear Colleague letter issued by the department on Friday.
— Changes to income-based repayment: The law removes the requirement for borrowers to demonstrate a partial financial hardship in order to enroll in IBR.
— Parent PLUS loan repayment options: Borrowers with a consolidation loan that have already repaid a parent PLUS loan will be able to enroll in an IBR plan when the law is enacted. More information and updates will be posted on studentaid.gov.
— Loan limits for part-time students: The law reduces how much students can borrow if they are not enrolled full time. This reduction will be based on how long the student isn't enrolled full time. The department is currently developing a schedule and will submit it to the public later this year.
— Public Service Loan Forgiveness: The Repayment Assistance Plan, which will be implemented no later than July of next year, will be a qualifying plan for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
— Biden-era regs: The department will be undoing changes the Biden administration made to borrower defense and closed school discharge regulations. Read the department's full letter.
Report Roundup
— Nearly one-third of the nation's K-12 public schools mandate mental health screening for students, according to a newly-published study led by RAND Corporation researchers that suggests there are multiple barriers to mental health screening in schools. Nearly 41 percent of principals surveyed in October 2024 said it was very hard or somewhat hard to ensure that students receive appropriate care, while roughly 38 percent said it was easy or very easy to find adequate care for students.
Syllabus
— As Harvard and Trump head to court, the government piles on the pressure: The New York Times
— George Mason president discriminated against white people after George Floyd protests, Justice Dept. says: The Chronicle of Higher Education
— 'Congress swung for the fences on school choice and hit a single': Education Next
— 28 bills, Ten Commandments and 1 source: A Christian right 'bill mill': The 74
— Chatbots in the classroom: How AI is reshaping higher education: Financial Times