A financial analysis suggests Randi Weingarten used over 1.4 million dollars in AFT union resources to write and publish her book on fascism and education.
Randi Weingarten , the president of the American Federation of Teachers, has come under intense scrutiny following a detailed financial analysis suggesting that she utilized hundreds of thousands of dollars in union resources to assist in the creation and publication of her controversial book.
The work, titled Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy, was presented by its publisher as a vital manifesto for the current era. However, a report released by the Freedom Foundation indicates that the labor group spent a staggering amount of money—totaling over 1.4 million dollars—on a team of consultants, lawyers, and agents to bring the project to fruition.
Maxford Nelsen, the director of research and government affairs for the Freedom Foundation, argued that members of the AFT pay their dues specifically for workplace representation and legal protection, not to subsidize the personal literary ambitions of their union president. The analysis suggests that because the union covered such a wide array of expenses, Weingarten may have contributed little to nothing of her own financial resources to the production of the volume.
The financial breakdown provided in the report highlights several significant payments made to external contractors. One of the most notable figures is Sally Kohn, a union consultant who was described in the book acknowledgments as an indispensable day-to-day thought partner and collaborator.
According to federal LM-2 financial reports covering the period from July 2024 through June 2025, the AFT paid Kohn consulting fees amounting to 400,270 dollars in two separate payments, a sum that is more than triple what she had received in previous years. While the Freedom Foundation characterizes Kohn as a ghostwriter—a service she openly advertises—representatives for Weingarten have countered this claim, stating that Kohn was engaged in various other union initiatives, including the production of the Reconnecting McDowell newsletter.
Further costs included 6,000 dollars paid to Emily Krieger Editorial LLC for fact-checking services and 5,212 dollars paid to photographer Tony Powell for the images used in the book's promotional materials and interior dust jacket. Additionally, the author acknowledged the contributions of nearly thirty AFT staff members, whose labor was essentially funded by member dues. The most substantial financial figures involve the legal review of the manuscript.
Weingarten expressed gratitude in her acknowledgments to Charles Moerdler, a counsel at the firm Patterson Belknap Webb and Tyler LLP. While Weingarten maintains that Moerdler provided his legal review on a pro bono basis, the AFT disclosed massive payments to the firm. Records show that 838,039 dollars were paid for representational activities and another 139,236 dollars were paid under union administration, totaling nearly 977,275 dollars.
The Freedom Foundation asserts that it is highly likely that a portion of these legal fees covered the work performed on the book. Beyond legal fees, the union also reported spending 64,090 dollars on publication expenses paid to InkWell Management and Penguin Random House, the latter being the primary publisher of the work. The content of the book itself has sparked significant political debate.
In the text, Weingarten draws parallels between modern educational challenges and the actions of 20th-century dictators, arguing that those who seek to unravel democracy and pluralism have historically targeted teachers. She specifically cited the 1930s, noting how Hitler and Mussolini persecuted educators to control school curricula. Critics have pointed out that the book suggests current political figures, including former President Donald Trump, exhibit fascist tendencies.
Weingarten has since pushed back against these interpretations, claiming she was describing fascistic behavior rather than directly labeling specific individuals as fascists. Amidst the controversy, it was noted that Weingarten receives a substantial annual salary of 469,442 dollars from the AFT, an organization representing 1.8 million members across thousands of local affiliates.
Although she has stated that royalties from the book are shared with the union and its nonprofit arms, the core of the controversy remains the initial expenditure of member dues to create a politically charged manifesto
AFT Randi Weingarten Union Funds Freedom Foundation Labor Ethics
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