EXCLUSIVE — A group funded by the largest teachers union in the country is training activists in preparation for a string of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests planned to take place outside of public schools on May 1, the Washington Examiner has learned.
The organizers behind the recent No Kings demonstrations are gearing up for nationwide follow-up protests on May 1.
Some of these protests will take place outside of public schools, according to literature distributed by activists. Midwest Academy, to which disclosures indicate the National Education Association has given roughly $1.4 million since 2020, will be training activists to interface with “parents, educators, and students” ahead of the protests, according to documents obtained by Defending Education and shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner. Midwest Academy is an advocacy group based in Chicago that provides training resources for liberal organizers with the aim of a “building a more equitable and just society.”
Promotional materials distributed by activists demand “no work, no school, [and] no shopping” on May 1. It is unclear if the NEA endorses truancy in the service of these protests. The NEA did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to skipping school, school “walk-ins” are another tactic endorsed by organizers — including the NEA itself.
These walk-ins will begin with 30 to 45-minute rallies held outside of schools, where, at the conclusion, participants in the demonstration walk onto school grounds together. Documents produced by activists don’t make it clear if protests are supposed to continue once demonstrators enter campuses.
“This is yet another example of how activists and teachers unions view schools as a tool to advance their political agenda,” Defending Education’s Director of Research Rhyen Staley told the Washington Examiner. “It should be deeply concerning that one of the suggested tactics is to enter schools to protest against policies they don’t like. Putting children’s education and safety at risk for political gain is unethical and immoral.”
In the weeks before these protests, Midwest Academy will hold a “Four Weeks of Power” training series to teach activists how to “build a broader, stronger base of parents, educators and students taking action to defend and transform public schools.”
As part of Midwest Academy’s training program, the group will teach activists how to have “one-on-one conversations” that allow them to “connect more deeply” with students and teachers. Activist trainees are slated to learn what “motivates” students to “take risks and move into action.”
The last training session offered by the academy is scheduled just a day before the May 1 protests. Attendees will “develop strategy and brainstorm effective tactics” ahead of the demonstrations.
“History teaches us that authoritarian movements only succeed when people comply in
isolation and that they fail when communities organize and refuse,” the training document obtained by Defending Education reads. “Free the Future is providing training for individuals and organizations– to say NO and resist, and to build the public schools we deserve.”
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Midwest Academy is also part of the coalition organizing the May 1 protests, according to a website dedicated to the demonstrations. Midwest Academy appears alongside mainstream liberal organizations and labor unions, as well as far-left groups such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Democratic Socialists of America chapters.
The demands of the May 1 protesters are similar to those levied by participants in the No Kings rallies. They want greater restrictions placed on the enforcement of immigration laws, an end to the war in Iran, and higher taxes on the wealthy.
Midwest Academy did not respond to requests for comment.
