Report: Massachusetts Teachers Association Features Speakers Who Justified Oct. 7 Massacre
The MTA summer conference will feature speakers who justified the October 7th massacre — the conference will also include events promoting Marxist ideologies as tools for activism
The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) is set to hold its summer conference from July 27-30, 2025, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. According to a report by the K12 Extremism Tracker, the MTA has invited speakers such as Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Cornel West, who justified the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023. The event also includes workshops promoting Marxist and “anti-oppression” ideologies as tools for organizing and activism.
Keynote Speakers Who Justified the October 7th Massacre
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a professor at Princeton University and a former member of the Trotskyist International Socialist Organization, is one of the keynote speakers at the MTA conference. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor's social media records include reposting tweets framing the October 7th massacre as a justified response by a colonized people against an “occupation. Taylor also reposted a protest call from the Palestinian Youth Movement, a virulent anti-Israel group that shares propaganda for U.S.-designated terror organizations, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Cornel West, another keynote speaker, immediately following the October 7th Hamas massacre, accused Israel of being a “vicious Israeli occupation” and tried to frame the Hamas attack in a neutral light. West continued to publish tweets calling Israel’s military operations against Hamas in Gaza a “barbaric genocidal campaign.”
Maurice "Moe" Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party, a progressive political party known for cross-endorsing candidates through fusion voting, is also one of the conference’s speakers. Mitchell has called for an arms embargo against Israel, and his social media posts have included celebrating former congressman Jamaal Bowman as a "major threat to Republican billionaires, MAGA, and AIPAC."
MTA Endorses Statement Accusing the U.S. of “Genocide”
The MTA's board of directors, which represents 117,000 teachers, faculty, and other professional staff members at Massachusetts public schools and universities, voted in favor of a statement accusing the U.S. government of being complicit in a "genocidal assault" on Gaza. The statement provided no condemnation of Hamas’ October 7 attacks, which targeted Israeli civilians. The statement was submitted by Joe Herosy, a retired music teacher from Quincy, Massachusetts, and seconded by Deborah Gesualdo, a current music teacher and president of the Malden Educators Association. Gesualdo previously retweeted a post on X that claimed the “extremist, Zionist regime is wholesale slaughtering innocent civilians.”
The Growing Tension Between Politics and Education
K12’s findings suggest that the MTA is increasingly focused on promoting political ideologies rather than supporting the professional development of educators. As the union continues to feature radical speakers and take strong political stances, questions arise about whether it is fulfilling its responsibility to provide neutral and balanced educational support to teachers and students. The upcoming summer conference will likely further highlight this tension between the union’s political agenda and its educational role.
MTA did not respond to Jewish Onliner's request for comment.