A recent webinar hosted by some of the top teachers’ unions in the United States that pushed a curriculum focused on the upcoming May Day protests is prompting education experts and watchdogs to sound the alarm about alleged political indoctrination inside classrooms.
The Chicago Teachers’ Union and the National Education Association collaborated with the Zinn Education Project on an April 2 seminar referred to as a “curriculum build” to bring “social justice into the classroom” ahead of May Day, the traditional May 1st holiday that has long been embraced by communist and socialist movements as a day of mass political action.
“There’s probably gonna be a lot worse things that Trump does, and so May Day is a dress rehearsal for maybe there’s a random day in, you know, June that we all are, like, no work, no school, no shopping, because of something Pete just did, right?” Dave Stieber, a history teacher in Chicago Public Schools, said during the presentation.
“So this is a continuation and a buildup of that.”
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The webinar also included guidance on how educators could bring activism into the classroom, including with very young students, with speakers who encouraged lessons centered on activism for children as young as three, presenting such engagement as a way to build early awareness and participation.
“I did want to say I really encourage teachers of young children not to feel like this is stuff that’s way beyond their students, not to be afraid of raising up social justice issues, including workers’ rights, anti-racism, pro LGBT, LGBTQIA plus issues, immigration and immigrants rights,” Kirstin Roberts, a pre-school teacher in Chicago Public Schools, says in the seminar.
The North American Values Institute (NAVI), which first posted the seminar online, argues that the unions are attempting to “groom” students to push social justice platforms in protests across the United States, including on May Day.
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“The webinar demonstrates clearly that our teacher unions view students as foot soldiers in their political and ideological battles and the classroom as an appropriate venue to wage their war,” Mika Hackner, director of research at NAVI, told Fox News Digital.
During the seminar, one of the lessons on “May Day curriculum building” focuses on making the upcoming protest look less “scary” to children.
“In this lesson, we really want to introduce the idea that there’s going to be marches and protests on Mayday,” Roberts says.
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“Sometimes those are made to look really scary on the news and so we, or in social media, and so we want to share images with our children of protests that lifts up the beauty and the humanity of the people involved.”
The Chicago Teachers’ Union, which has been pushing for schools to be closed on May Day, has long-faced criticism for pushing far-left political agenda items in the classroom and encouraging teachers to take to the streets in opposition to the Trump administration.
Earlier this year, Fox News Digital reported that CTU appears poised to spend a substantial amount of money on “political activities” to the tune of $3.1 million.
In January, CTU members filmed themselves protesting federal immigration enforcement and anti-DEI measures at a local Target, sparking criticism both online and from experts.
“It’s very clear that teachers unions seek to destroy our country by turning our students against it,” Teacher Freedom Alliance CEO Ryan Walters told Fox News Digital.
“The Chicago Teachers Union is one of the worst. The fact that they are targeting students as young as 3 years old with this anti-American propaganda should be criminal. The teachers unions will continue to use students as Marxist pawns until we have driven them out of our schools.”
The NEA has found itself facing criticism over political activism in recent months as well, which Fox News Digital has extensively reported on, including federal labor filings in January that showed the nation’s largest teacher’s union funneling millions to far-left activist groups, ballot initiatives and social justice organizations.
“They don’t care about the students, they care about pushing these leftist, liberal Democrat people [politicians] so that they can get more money and just fund all these stupid initiatives,” an NEA whistleblower told Fox News Digital in January.
Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA, Chicago Public Schools, and Zinn Project for comment.
The Chicago Teacher’s Union directed Fox News Digital to its statement calling for “No School, No Work, No Shopping” on May 1st.
“Teaching our students what civic action looks like requires more than textbooks when the President sends federal agents to occupy our cities and the Governor chooses to continue giving tax breaks to billionaires instead of giving our students the school day they deserve,” CTU Vice President Jackson Potter said.
“If we still want to have democracy in the midterms this November, public schools that provide our students with quality education, and unions to defend workers’ rights, then it is up to every Chicagoan to stand up for what we believe in and show the authoritarian billionaire in Washington that when he breaks every rule, we will not go along with business as usual.”
