The Patriot Post® · Scummy Weingarten's Scammy Manifesto

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second-largest teachers union in the country, is in the news yet again.

Weingarten released a book last year titled Why Fascists Fear Teachers. “It’s all about how American conservatives are actually fascists who are working to ‘undermine democracy, opportunity, and public education as we know it,’” our Nate Jackson so aptly elucidated back in September. “She’s either ignorant or lying about what fascism means.”

Frankly, after reading about how monies were spent in the creation of this scummy manifesto, I don’t think Weingarten can plead ignorance. What she can plead is a lack of self-awareness.

As the Freedom Foundation’s Maxford Nelsen explains:

Weingarten’s lack of self-awareness compounds in the second paragraph, in which she condemns the establishment of a “Nazi teacher network” in Norway “that all teachers in the country” were “mandated” to join. Presumably Weingarten only objects to forcing teachers to join Nazi unions; after all, she derided a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision freeing teachers and other public employees from being forced to financially support neo-Marxist unions like AFT as “a dark day in U.S. jurisprudence.”

But even the idiocy plea cannot save her because she did not write her book alone. She used lawyers, “fact-checkers,” a ghost writer, and 30-odd AFT staff members to get her manifesto over the finish line. One would think that didn’t come cheap for the first-time author — except she didn’t pay for any of those special services.

According to financial records, Weingarten’s book was purchased and paid for by the AFT. This is a major conflict of interest.

The Freedom Foundation, whose goal is to stand up to the “entrenched power of left-wing government union bosses who represent a permanent lobby for bigger government, higher taxes, and radical social agendas,” was responsible for uncovering how AFT union dues were being spent.

AFT paid $400,720 to Weingarten’s ghost writer, Sally Kohn. Weingarten herself called Kohn her “thought partner and collaborator.”

$6,000 was paid to Emily Krieger for (non)fact-checking Weingarten’s book.

$5,212 was dolled out in photography fees for Weingarten’s picture on the dustcover. The photographer was Tony Powell, whose works often appear in The Washington Post.

The largest payment was to Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP. Charles Moerdler, an attorney with that group, ostensibly helped Weingarten pro bono. However, his law offices were paid $977,275. This massive payment was split into two payouts, which the AFT labeled “Legal Fees and Expenses.”

AFT also paid $64,090 in publication expenses to Inkwell Management, which is part of Penguin Random House Co.

For those keeping track at home, the bill for producing this vanity project was north of $1.4 million. That does not even include what has yet to be disclosed. For example, did the AFT pay for Weingarten’s book tour and promotional material? I doubt Weingarten footed the bill.

Weingarten, in turn, said she would split the royalties with two charities presided over by the AFT — the AFT Disaster Relief Fund and the AFT Educational Foundation — since she called the book a team effort. What the Freedom Foundation surmises is that she actually split the royalties three ways: $125,000 to the charities named above (both of which she is president of), $375,000 to the AFT itself (which she is president of), and $125,000 to Teachers Want What Kids Need, LLC, which is an “opaque corporate entity” based in Delaware and is also associated with Weingarten.

This $625,000 hardly recoups the $1.4 million in AFT dues from union membership (membership that is not always optional if you want to work in public schools).

The thuggery of our teachers unions is once again on full display with this latest book scam. Weingarten used her role as president to ensure that the AFT footed the bills associated with her book.

When confronted with this, Weingarten told the New York Post that the Freedom Foundation just proved the thesis of her book: that fascists fear teachers. “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,” she said. “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.”

Actually, the Freedom Foundation is shining a light on a conflict of interest and the mafia-like corruption of union bosses. Randi Weingarten calling herself a teacher is also a stretch; she did teach high school history from 1991 to 1997, but it’s been a while since her time in the classroom. Her real passion is power and being a shill for the Democrat Party.

Let’s factually reframe her book title: Teachers Union Bosses Fear Facts and Transparency.