{"id":7371,"date":"2026-08-25T09:38:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7371"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:38:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:38:49","slug":"randi-weingartens-dirty-back-to-school-war-on-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7371","title":{"rendered":"Randi Weingarten’s dirty back-to-school war on Target"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Randi Weingarten knows full well that back-to-school shopping hits household budgets hard.<\/p>\n

Read more World\u2019s oldest lab-grown human brains grow for seven years recording \u2018passage of time\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Teachers dig into their own pockets for classroom supplies; families stretch every dollar to cover notebooks, backpacks and clothes.<\/p>\n

Yet the president of the American Federation of Teachers is using this very moment to push shoppers toward stores that employ unionized workers \u2014 even when those retailers are pricier.<\/p>\n

Weingarten has launched an all-out campaign, complete with a dedicated website and a raft of print and digital ads, aimed at convincing teachers and parents to steer clear of Target.<\/p>\n

The reason has nothing to do with the chain\u2019s prices or product quality \u2014 and everything to do with partisan politics.<\/p>\n

According to its own public materials, the AFT launched its \u201cShop Smart, Support Working Families\u201d campaign because Target has refused to condemn the enforcement operations conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n

In other words, it\u2019s punishing the company for failing to take a political stand against federal agents doing their jobs.<\/p>\n

The union\u2019s website features a locator tool that claims it will help users find \u201cback-to-school retailers that support union values.\u201d<\/p>\n

I tested the union\u2019s new tool myself, entering San Antonio, Texas, as my location.<\/p>\n

Within a 10-mile radius, the site returned three stores \u2014 all of them Macy\u2019s outlets.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a coincidence; the tool filters for retailers that \u201cemploy a significant number of unionized employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

The practical result: Teachers and parents get steered toward higher-priced options during a season that Weingarten herself acknowledges is a financial strain.<\/p>\n

Weingarten, who collects more than $500,000 a year in total compensation, sits comfortably in the top 5% of earners.<\/p>\n

Yet while rank-and-file educators worry about covering basic classroom needs out of pocket, she deploys the union\u2019s platform for political warfare over an unrelated agenda.<\/p>\n

The mismatch is glaring.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the same AFT materials note that its members\u2019 pension funds own 6.79 million shares of Target stock \u2014 a substantial stake, the union notes.<\/p>\n

But directing members and other consumers away from a company in which those pensions hold a large position creates an obvious risk: Any sustained drop in sales could lower the value of the very shares meant to secure members\u2019 retirements.<\/p>\n

Read more Target pulls \u2018offensive\u2019 Halloween costume from stores<\/a><\/p>\n

That means the AFT\u2019s anti-Target campaign raises serious questions about fiduciary duty.<\/p>\n

Pension trustees, after all, are supposed to put the financial interests of beneficiaries first.<\/p>\n

Using union leverage to punish a company over immigration policy \u2014 something that has no bearing on union business, or on maximizing pension-fund returns \u2014 looks like a departure from that standard.<\/p>\n

Congress is already examining Weingarten\u2019s use of more than $1.4 million in union dues and resources to produce and promote her 2025 book equating conservatives with fascists.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department should open a parallel inquiry into whether the AFT has deployed its pension funds and union power to bully companies over purely political disagreements.<\/p>\n

Fiduciaries cannot treat investment holdings as weapons in culture battles: The law requires them to focus on economic returns for the workers whose money is at stake.<\/p>\n

Actions like Weingarten\u2019s damage the teaching profession itself.<\/p>\n

Most educators entered the classroom to help students, not to serve as foot soldiers in someone else\u2019s political war.<\/p>\n

When union leadership prioritizes immigration disputes and book promotion over classroom realities, it leaves teachers looking like partisan actors rather than professionals.<\/p>\n

The AFT\u2019s relentless focus on political projects helps explain why so many teachers feel abandoned \u2014 and why student outcomes remain dismal.<\/p>\n

New York City public schools spend more than $40,000 per student each year, yet despite that extraordinary spending 43% of the city\u2019s students attend schools where more than half their classmates fail to reach proficiency in math or reading.<\/p>\n

Money alone doesn\u2019t produce results when leadership energy goes elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Plenty of teachers \u2014 those committed to instruction, not ideology \u2014 reject this model.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, more than 16,000 educators have abandoned the AFT and other teachers\u2019 unions to join the Teacher Freedom Alliance, an alternative organization that focuses on the classroom, not on political score-settling.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Back-to-school season should be about getting kids ready to learn.<\/p>\n

Instead, the AFT is making it another front in its political battle.<\/p>\n

Directing members toward more expensive stores while their pensions hold Target stock is hardly smart shopping.<\/p>\n

Teachers and parents deserve better than lectures on immigration enforcement when they\u2019re simply trying to get by.<\/p>\n

Corey DeAngelis is a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a senior fellow at Americans for Fair Treatment.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Operation Economic Outcast is a recipe for success against Iran<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The teachers’ union honcho has launched an all-out campaign aimed at convincing teachers and parents to steer clear of Target \u2014 over petty partisan politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nRandi Weingarten's dirty back-to-school war on Target - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7371\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Randi Weingarten's dirty back-to-school war on Target - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The teachers' union honcho has launched an all-out campaign aimed at convincing teachers and parents to steer clear of Target \u2014 over petty partisan politics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7371\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-25T09:38:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7371#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7371\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Randi Weingarten’s dirty back-to-school war on Target\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-25T09:38:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7371\"},\"wordCount\":789,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7371#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/afdf24794bfe74dec8e4065e9d71ca70.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7371#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7371\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7371\",\"name\":\"Randi Weingarten's dirty back-to-school war on Target - 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