The nation’s largest teachers union faced ridicule this week for misspelling “fascism” in a resolution opposing President Trump.
The National Education Association (NEA), which represents more than 3 million teachers nationwide, approved the mangled proposal – aimed at defending “the survival of civilization itself” – on Sunday at the group’s annual convention.
“NEA pledges to defend democracy against Trump’s embrace of fascism by using the term facism [sic] in NEA materials to correctly characterize Donald Trump’s program and actions,” read the adopted agenda item, obtained by conservative education expert Corey A. DeAngelis, who shared it on X.
“The members and material resources of NEA must be committed to the defense of the democratic and educational conditions required by our hopes for a just society and the survival of civilization itself by stating the truth,” the wordy new business item continued.
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The document noted that calling out Trump’s “facism” [sic] in NEA materials “cannot be accomplished with current staff and resources” because it would cost an additional $3,500 to do so.
DeAngelis, and several people on social media, mocked the NEA over the spelling error.
“Yes, the union that claims to represent educators couldn’t even spell ‘fascism’ correctly in its official resolution attacking the president,” he wrote in a Fox News opinion piece. “The irony is almost too rich to parody.”
Tina Descovich, the CEO and co-founder of conservative group Moms for Liberty, argued that the agenda item was emblematic of the dismal state of the American education system.
“If the largest teachers union can’t define fascism properly we can all understand clearly why we are failing to teach children in schools,” Descovich wrote on X. “Number one priority is not to teach reading and math but a political agenda.”
“It’s infuriating.”
Republican Washington State Rep. Jim Walsh described the resolution as a “hysterical slander” of Trump and said it’s apparent why some families opt to steer their children away from public schools.
“A political lobbying organization that claims to represent public school teachers misspells the key word in its hysterical slander of the current POTUS,” Walsh wrote on X. “It’s not spelled ‘facism,’ morons.”
“And you’re not using the word correctly, anyway,” the state rep continued.”No wonder many families are homeschooling.”
