Education
Teachers’ union holds anti-Trump webinar
Ray Carter | January 20, 2025
In the final days of the Biden administration, members of the National Education Association, whose state affiliate is the Oklahoma Education Association, held a webinar focused on “preparing for a second Trump administration.”
From Jan. 15-18, NEA Aspiring Educators conducted a webinar series for its members, “Preparing for a Second Trump Administration,” which included sessions on “defending LGBTQ+ civil rights in public schools,” keeping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “out of schools,” and opposing school choice.
“NEA members are a crucial part of the community coming together to protect public education under a second Trump administration,” the NEA stated on its website. “As we prepare for this new era, we know we must be united, proactive, and focused on our vision for the future of students, educators, and public schools.”
The NEA seminars began with a “transgender individual leading a ‘land acknowledgment’” that “accused the United States of ‘settler colonialism’” and “accused Trump of wanting to carry through with ‘land grabs.’”
The event occurred only days before Donald Trump was set to begin his second term as president on Jan. 20.
A parents’ rights organization, Parents Defending Education, obtained and posted video from the NEA event.
Parents Defending Education reported that the NEA seminars began with a “transgender individual leading a ‘land acknowledgment’” that “accused the United States of ‘settler colonialism’” and “accused Trump of wanting to carry through with ‘land grabs.’”
One webinar featured Chelsea Acost, the chair of the NEA sexual orientation and gender identity committee and a board director for the American Civil Liberties Union. Acost promptly announced her pronouns as “ella, she, her, hers.”
Parents Defending Education reported that during the session focused on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement one speaker said teachers can make students feel less afraid of immigration enforcement, and also argued that schools should increase the number of counselors in response to the potential deportation of illegal immigrants.
One speaker also said that teaching “social and racial justice” is teaching “true history,” according to Parents Defending Education.
The Oklahoma Education Association, the state affiliate of the National Education Association, is Oklahoma’s largest teachers’ union.
Ray Carter
Director, Center for Independent Journalism
Ray Carter is the director of OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism. He has two decades of experience in journalism and communications. He previously served as senior Capitol reporter for The Journal Record, media director for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and chief editorial writer at The Oklahoman. As a reporter for The Journal Record, Carter received 12 Carl Rogan Awards in four years—including awards for investigative reporting, general news reporting, feature writing, spot news reporting, business reporting, and sports reporting. While at The Oklahoman, he was the recipient of several awards, including first place in the editorial writing category of the Associated Press/Oklahoma News Executives Carl Rogan Memorial News Excellence Competition for an editorial on the history of racism in the Oklahoma legislature.