Randi Weingarten, longtime president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), resigned from her post within the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Sunday.
In a letter to DNC Chair Ken Martin obtained by Axios, Weingarten declined his offer to continue serving as an at-large member — a position she had held since 2002 — citing ideological divergence with the current direction of the party. “I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging,” Weingarten wrote. “I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities.”
Her decision follows her public support for Ben Wikler, who unsuccessfully challenged Martin in a contentious DNC leadership election earlier this year. Following that endorsement, Weingarten was removed from the party’s influential Rules and Bylaws Committee.
Weingarten’s departure also comes just days after DNC Vice Chair David Hogg stepped down, criticizing the party’s resistance to generational change. Weingarten had supported Hogg’s plan to launch a political organization aimed at primarying incumbent Democratic lawmakers.
The AFT represents 1.7 million educators and is one of the most powerful labor unions in the US, as well as a longstanding Democratic Party ally.
Critics have argued the union has increasingly prioritized activism over education. Corey DeAngelis, a leading school choice advocate, told The New York Post that Weingarten’s involvement in political events such as last week’s “No Kings Rally” in Philadelphia undermines her credibility. “That teachers' unions are more invested in political activism than in prioritizing education is nothing new,” DeAngelis said. “Their actions expose them as little more than an arm of the Democratic Party, pushing a radical agenda that puts taxpayers on the hook for funding the K-12 education of illegal immigrants.”
At a “No Kings” town hall on Tuesday, Weingarten defended the union’s stance, stating the event was “about strong public schools, supporting working families, and our fundamental freedoms.”
DeAngelis questioned Weingarten’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Where was this outrage from Randi Weingarten when her local affiliates fought to keep schools closed for years during the COVID era?"
