The state’s largest teachers union came in for sharp criticism on Wednesday after it asked school districts to defend educators from bullying and harassment for speaking out on the death of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In a joint statement , Max Page and Deb McCarthy, the president and vice president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, argued that the “ongoing campaign by extreme-right conservatives to discredit and defund public education has grotesquely exploited the shooting death of Charlie Kirk to launch attacks against people commenting on this public figure’s beliefs and statements.”

Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, was shot to death last week while speaking to students at Utah State University.

The speaker and activist, who held polarizing views on such i

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