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Jewish educators are experiencing rampant antisemitism from teachers unions, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The organization surveyed 307 Jewish members of teachers unions, many of whom admitted to censoring themselves and being disappointed with how unions handled concerns about antisemitism.
“What we found is not the work of a few bad actors. It is a structural and cultural failure,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “Jewish educators deserve to feel safe and protected in their union spaces. And instead of that, they are self-censoring and fearing backlash for raising concerns.”
Greenblatt added that the report’s findings represented a “dangerous trend of institutionalized antisemitism.”
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Sydney Altfield, CEO of Teach Coalition, an organization that advocates for Jewish schools, said the report was particularly concerning because teachers unions were meant to represent and protect all educators.
“What strikes me is that these unions are supposed to be homes for everyone, and [they’re] not being that,” Altfield told Fox News Digital.
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One of the key findings of the report was the high rate at which Jewish educators were self-censoring out of fear of retaliation. According to the ADL, 70% of respondents “somewhat or strongly agreed” that bringing up concerns about how Jews were treated in union spaces “could lead to reputational or professional consequences.” Additionally, 73.6% said they needed to censor themselves in union spaces and 47.6% said they reduced their participation in union activities due to “harmful rhetoric or behavior targeting Jews, Zionists/Zionism or Israel.”
A respondent told the ADL that their union leadership “actively works against” Jews and Zionists. The respondent noted that the union “hosted several events promoting extremely biased and nasty anti-Israel curriculum, including giving out flyers that praised the Al-Aqsa flood operation [Oct. 7 attack] and glorified their martyrs…” The respondent said their wife was “physically intimidated at a union event” and was “attacked publicly by union leadership online on social media.”
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Many respondents also reported pervasive anti-Jewish, anti-Israel and anti-Zionist conduct and said hostile rhetoric continued well after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. More than 70% of respondents “somewhat or strongly agreed” that union statements about the Israel-Hamas war failed to condemn the terror organization or the atrocities committed during the massacre. The ADL noted that approximately 52% of respondents said they witnessed minimization or denial of Oct. 7 atrocities, while nearly 49% said they heard the word “Zionism” used as a pejorative term in the past year.
“[My local union] passed a resolution as official union policy that blamed Israel for the October 7 Hamas attack…We tried to come up with…amendments, but they voted us down and shouted us down,” a respondent told the ADL.
Sixty-nine percent of respondents who raised concerns about antisemitism to union leadership told the ADL that they were not satisfied with the response they received. The organization added that one of the top requests from respondents was for leadership to condemn threats and harassments against Jews.
“Jewish educators have gone into hiding. They do not admit to being Jewish or wear any identifying clothing/jewelry. We are still being told not to speak,” one respondent told the ADL.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten acknowledged that “no institution” is “immune” to antisemitism. She also said that the AFT was working to address concerns brought up in the report.
“Every student and every educator deserves to feel safe at school and in their unions,” Weingarten said. “At a moment of real and rising antisemitism, no institution—including unions—is immune; the remedy requires constructive engagement that understands Jewish safety and strong unions go hand-in-hand, rather than binary approaches that pit communities against one another.”
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Weingarten said that the AFT had partnered with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs on training, resources and local programs aimed at helping union members combat antisemitism, hate and extremism.
“There is much more work to do, and we’re looking forward to building on our partnership to ensure all educators and students are safe and respected in their schools,” Weingarten added.
A spokesperson for the National Education Association (NEA) told Fox News Digital that the union “stands firmly against antisemitism and hate in any form” and takes Jewish educators’ concerns seriously.
“Every NEA member, including our Jewish members, has the right to participate fully in their union and their workplace, free from discrimination and harassment,” the spokesperson said.
The NEA spokesperson noted that the union’s Jewish Affairs Caucus brings members’ concerns directly to union leadership. Additionally, the organization works with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs on antisemitism workshops and trainings, Holocaust education, and resources for educators.
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Altfield told Fox News Digital that union leaders must address the problem if members believe that antisemitism is coming from the top, or that leadership may need to be changed altogether.
“If people are specifically saying that this is coming from the leadership, then the leadership needs to change,” she said. “You can pass resolutions, you can pass and put out different curriculums, but if the top is not living and breathing, you know, a secure place for Jews then it’s never going to be trickled down to the bottom.”
The ADL report comes as the organization notes historic levels of antisemitism across the U.S. In 2025, there were 6,274 recorded incidents of antisemitism, an average of about 17 every day, according to the ADL. These incidents included 203 assaults, 4,003 instances of antisemitic harassment and 2,068 acts of vandalism. Out of the 203 assaults, 32 involved a deadly weapon.
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The survey covered teachers in 24 states, “with especially large representation from California, Massachusetts and New York,” and nearly 99 percent of respondents worked in public schools.
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