The nation's largest teachers' union is having its annual meeting in Orlando and a rally planned for Wednesday promises a rebuke to the message at last week's Moms for Liberty convention in Philadelphia.
The National Education Association (NEA), led by Gen Z's first member of Congress, is rallying for "Freedom to Learn" as these moms have stormed onto the national stage demanding a say in limiting how sensitive issues can be discussed at school.
The parental rights group has put unions like the NEA, meeting this week in Orlando, in the crosshairs of its promise to overhaul education infrastructure across everywhere. The Moms for Liberty, which started with two Florida moms and now claims 120,000 members, say they are pushing back against instruction on systemic racism and gender identity in the classroom they say represents an effort to usurp their parental rights.
Last week's event in Philadelphia featured Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations' Ambassador Nikki Haley, both Republican presidential candidates, cheering on these moms whose organization has been labeled an "extremist" organization.
On Wednesday, though, rising Democratic political star Congressman Maxwell Frost, and a host of other progressive cause leaders are leading a rally against what they are calling "the politicization of public education."
The focus of Wednesday's union rally promises a spotlight on the outbreak of book challenges, according to a news release from the NEA. The release also touches on several hot-button issues that have dominated School Board meetings across the state and prompted legislation that more tightly restricts how teachers can discuss LGBTQ and racial issues at school.
"Politicians such as Ron DeSantis have banned books, taken away the freedom to learn from students and politicized public education across the country," the release says. "They have recklessly banned books about Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank, attempted to erase and dehumanize the LGBTQ+ community, blocked students from learning AP African American Studies and restricted the freedom of educators to teach and of students to learn."
DeSantis, for his part, has denied "banning" books even as he's supported legislation that can take books off the shelves at the objection of one parent, setting off a review that could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to legislation that went into effect July 1.
Andrew Spar, President of the state chapter of the NEA; Becky Pringle, NEA President; Adora Obi Nweze, state President of the Florida chapter of the NAACP; and Mecca, an internationally recognized spoken word poet, are also on tap to lead the rally.
The 9 a.m. event slated for Wednesday, the fourth day of the NEA's Representative Assembly, will be at the Orange County Convention Center, 9800 International Drive.
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