The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) selected Deb Gesualdo as its vice‑president and Matt Bach as its president at a recent meeting. Both officials belong to Educators for a Democratic Union, a progressive caucus within the MTA that describes its aim as building a social‑justice movement and dismantling oppressive structures inside the union and elsewhere.
Gesualdo, who is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has repeatedly characterised the United States as a fascist oligarchy and described national borders as a construct created by colonisers. She has called for anti‑government uprisings against what she terms a fascist United States, advocated a class‑based conflict, and used children’s cartoon imagery to promote far‑left and socialist ideas. In addition, she supported a resolution that accused Israel of carrying out a genocidal assault in Gaza.
The election of Gesualdo and Bach has prompted concerns about the MTA’s stance toward anti‑Israel actions and antisemitism. Former MTA president Max Page was criticised for distributing an image of a dollar bill folded into a Star of David to teachers, an image that state representative Simon Cataldo described as antisemitic. The National Education Association, with which the MTA is affiliated, has received complaints alleging antisemitism.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center filed a civil‑rights complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last month, alleging that the union has fostered an antisemitic environment for its Jewish members. The complaint adds to the growing scrutiny of the MTA’s leadership and its alignment with far‑left positions that many observers consider hostile to Israel and potentially hostile to Jewish educators.