WASHINGTON, D.C. — August 13, 2026 — Americans for Fair Treatment today launched Fund Teachers, Not Randi, a national transparency and worker-education campaign that will turn teachers union financial filings into plain-language receipts and give educators a clearer view of the organizations asking for their dues and support.
The campaign’s message is direct:
Fund Teachers, Not Randi.
Fund Students, Not Systems.
The campaign asks whether union spending priorities reflect the needs and values of the workers in classrooms and reminds public employees that the choice to join or financially support a union belongs to them.
“Teachers are told every dollar matters, and they understand that better than anyone,” said Chip Rogers, CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment. “When a national union president’s total reported compensation is nearly eight times the average teacher salary, members deserve to see the number, ask where the money is going and decide whether those priorities reflect their own. The people doing the work should come before the people running the system.”
AFT’s most recent Form 990 reports $486,295 in reportable compensation plus $98,893 in other compensation for President Randi Weingarten, for $585,188 in total reported compensation.
The National Education Association reports that the national average public-school teacher salary for the 2024–25 school year was $74,495.
That means Weingarten’s total reported compensation was approximately 7.9 times the national average teacher salary.
The Receipts Behind the Campaign
Executive compensation is only one part of the picture.
Separately, AFT’s latest available Form LM-2 financial disclosure, covering July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, reports:
- $99.3 million for representational activities
- $41.5 million for political activities and lobbying
- $27.5 million for general overhead
- $19.7 million for union administration
“Fund Teachers, Not Randi is unapologetically pro-teacher,” Rogers said. “It is pro-student, pro-transparency and pro-worker choice. Public employees are free to support a union, and they are also free to decline union membership. Either way, that decision should be free, informed and protected from retaliation.”
Through the campaign, AFFT will:
- Spotlight executive compensation, political and lobbying spending, overhead and administrative costs
- Connect educators with AFFT’s state and national Where Do Your Dues Go? research
- Give public employees clear information about their constitutional rights concerning union membership and dues
The campaign’s supporting message, Fund Students, Not Systems, broadens the focus beyond one union executive. It challenges a system where institutional interests, political operations and layers of bureaucracy can become more powerful than the educators and students those institutions claim to serve.
Public-sector employees with questions about union membership or dues can visit AmericansForFairTreatment.org or call (833) 969-FAIR. AFFT offers free membership, accurate resources and confidential support for workers navigating their choices.
Media inquiries: info@afft.org