02.07.2025

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On the hot seat: Mass. teachers union chief faces questioning by State House panel over allegations of pushing anti-Israel classroom materials, curriculum

The Massachusetts Teachers Association sparked a well-deserved backlash last spring.

The union hosted a controversial professional development workshop for teachers that critics, including some of its own members, blasted for promoting anti-Israel and even antisemitic propaganda.

Now it’s time for the state’s teachers union to face the music.

On Monday, MTA President Max Page is slated to testify before a legislative commission investigating antisemitism in Massachusetts.

Page will likely face some tough questions while also getting a chance to offer the MTA’s side of the story, such as it is.

The hearing will be the fourth meeting held by the nearly 20-member legislative commission, which is charged with making recommendations to the state, including potential legislation.

Co-chaired by State Rep. Simon Cataldo (D-Concord) and state Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield), the commission includes Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker, Robert Leikind, director of the American Jewish Committee’s New England chapter, and Salisbury Police Chief Thomas Fowler.

State Rep. Simon Cataldo

“As we continue our conversation and study on Monday and beyond, we’re going to explore in greater depth some of the concerns that have been raised by Jewish and non-Jewish students, families, and teachers around Massachusetts regarding curriculum and training,” Cataldo told Contrarian Boston.

The commission previously heard from students and administrators about rising antisemitic incidents in schools, while also discussing data and research presented by the Anti-Defamation League and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies Center for Combatting Antisemitism, among other organizations.

Last March’s now infamous MTA teacher workshop included “a slide identifying Jewish organizations that purportedly should be condemned as part of the Zionist ‘machine,’” according to the letter a pair of state senators sent to the union that flagged issues with the event.

The webinar “spent the better part of two hours proffering anti-Israel and antisemitic political propaganda,” wrote Sens. Jason Lewis and Rebecca Rausch in an April 3 letter obtained by Contrarian Boston.

Overall, the “teach-in,” as the MTA billed the event, framed the discussion of Israel and Palestine in the context of “colonialism and imperialism,” while “expressly rejecting anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism,” according to slides shown at the event.

“Based on what I’ve seen so far, I believe that there’s a real possibility of things are getting worse, not better, for our Jewish students unless we clearly diagnose causes and expressly identify where the risks lie,” Cataldo said in advance of Monday’s hearing.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the Massachusetts Educators Against Antisemitism and American Jewish Committee New England released a letter signed by nearly 2,000 state residents.