Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, reportedly utilized significant union funds to support the creation of her polarizing book, as revealed by a recent analysis. Her team, which collectively received over $1.4 million from the union, played a key role in bringing her project to life.
Weingarten’s book, titled “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy,” was developed with extensive union resources, according to a report by the Freedom Foundation. Despite the book’s alignment with liberal perspectives, Weingarten allegedly received a share of the book’s earnings.
The production team included an attorney whose firm was compensated $977,000 for various services to AFT, despite claims of pro bono work on the book. Additionally, a “ghost writer” reportedly collected over $400,000 from the union, as detailed in the report.
Moreover, the union reportedly allocated more than $11,000 to two individuals who were responsible for fact-checking and possibly photographing the union leader for the book, which the publisher described as a “manifesto for our time.”
Maxford Nelsen, director of research and government affairs at the Freedom Foundation, noted, “Most AFT members pay dues for workplace representation, not to fund the union president’s literary ambitions.”
Nelsen further stated, “It appears AFT allocated substantial dues to high-profile consultants, lawyers, and agents for the book’s publication. The extensive expenses covered by AFT raise questions about whether Weingarten made any personal financial contributions to the project.”
Weingarten is paid $469,442 by the AFT, which boasts 1.8 million members across 3,000 local affiliates. She admitted to sharing royalties with the union and its nonprofit affiliates.
The book was promoted by the publisher as “a manifesto for our time” and caused a stir when critics said the author suggested President Trump is a fascist. The labor leader also invoked Hitler in the book.
“Those hell-bent on unraveling democracy, pluralism, and opportunity have always attacked teachers and education,” Weingarten wrote in her book. “It’s a very old playbook. In the 1930s, Hitler and Mussolini persecuted teachers and tried to control the curriculum.”
Weingarten had pushed back on the claims and said she was describing fascistic behavior and not accusing Trump or his cabinet members of being fascists.
The Freedom Foundation analyzed AFT’s financial report, an LM-2 filed with the federal government and covered the period July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.
The group found that Weingarten noted in the book’s acknowledgments that writer Sally Kohn, a union consultant, was “indispensable as a day-to-day thought partner and collaborator.” The AFT paid Kohn consulting fees of $400,270 in two separate installments, according to financial records — more than triple what the union paid her in previous years.
The Freedom Foundation claimed Kohn was being paid for “ghostwriting” or assisting Weingarten in writing the book, as that is a service Kohn advertises — but Weingarten’s camp pushed back and said she has worked on a number of union projects, including a union “Reconnecting McDowell” newsletter.
Weingarten’s acknowledgments also shout out fact-checker Emily Krieger. The report noted AFT paid $6,000 to Emily Krieger Editorial LLC in Bozeman, Montana. On the portfolio section of her website, Krieger says she “fact-checked” Weingarten’s book.
The photograph of Weingarten appearing on the book’s inside dust jacket and featured in Penguin Random House’s promotional materials is credited to photographer Tony Powell. The AFT disclosed paying Powell $5,212 under Schedule 19, “Union Administration.”
In her book’s acknowledgments, Weingarten also thanked attorney Charles Moerdler — counsel at Patterson Belknap Webb and Tyler LLP — for his legal review of her manuscript.
Meanwhile, AFT’s reported $838,039 in payments to the firm for “Legal Fees and Expenses” for “Representational Activities.” It disclosed another $139,236 in payments to Patterson Belknap for “Legal Fees and Expenses” under “Union Administration.”
That’s a combined $977,275 in payments to Moerdler and his firm. The foundation claimed at least a portion of the costs likely covered Moerdler’s work on the book but Weingarten said he helped on a pro-bono basis.
The longtime AFT lawyer’s firm had been involved in the union’s litigation against a “divisive concepts” law in New Hampshire and establishing the union’s AI Academy, a spokesperson said.
The AFT also disclosed making $64,090 in payments for “publication expenses” to “InkWell Management, Penguin Random House Co.” InkWell lists Weingarten as one of its clients.
While not separately itemized on AFT’s financial report, Weingarten’s book also acknowledged the contributions of nearly 30 AFT staff members who helped with the book.
“Also undisclosed, but potentially substantial, is the amount AFT likely paid in travel expenses and other costs associated with Weingarten’s nationwide tour to promote her book,” Nelson said.
The analysis also questioned the destination of all proceeds and royalties from Weingarten’s book.
Weingarten publicly stated that some of the proceeds would go back to the AFT, the AFT Disaster Relief Fund and the AFT Educational Foundation.
But the report also disclosed two “royalty payments” totaling $125,000 to a Weingarten-controlled entity called “Teachers Want What Kids Need, LLC”, which the analysis points out is not a tax-exempt charity but “an opaque corporate entity incorporated in Delaware.”
At least two “royalty payments” totaling $125,000 went to an entity called “Teachers Want What Kids Need, LLC,” which Weingarten controls.
“It has no website or discernible public-facing presence of any kind,” the Freedom Foundation said in its report.
Weingarten panned the group’s analysis as a “fishing expedition” by a right-wing group but admitted that the proceeds of the book are “shared equally” between her and the union. She claimed she never hid that she would split the proceeds.
“This desperate fishing expedition by a far right group that refuses to disclose its donors only proves my book’s point—that Fascists Fear Teachers,” Weingarten told The Post.
“Educators need people making the public case for them, for critical thinking and for public schools. I am glad to have been in full partnership with the union on this project—and any and all proceeds from the book are shared equally.”
The Freedom Foundation is a conservative think tank whose mission is to challenge “entrenched power of left-wing government union bosses who represent a permanent lobby for bigger government, higher taxes, and radical social agendas,” its website says.
Weingarten previously headed the AFT’s New York City affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers.
