Randi Weingarten Quits DNC

A teachers union boss synonymous with prolonged school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic has announced plans to exit the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, announced in a June 5 letter to DNC Chair Ken Martin that she would not seek renewal as an at-large member of the party committee, Politico reported.

“While I am proud to be a Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and 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,” she wrote.

The DNC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Weingarten championed keeping kids out of classrooms during the pandemic and the direction of an estimated $190 billion in COVID relief packages to schools, even long after observational data demonstrated that schools did not drive outbreaks.

Disruptions caused by school closures result in poorer test scores and behavior in the short-term, and poorer educational attainment and professional earnings into adulthood, according to a 2024 report.

Weingarten’s AFT sued the Trump Department of Education in February over its efforts to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also declined to renew his nomination to remain with the DNC on May 27, according to The New York Times.

News of the letter follows the ouster of former DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, who pledged to primary certain congressional Democrats. Weingarten had also supported another candidate, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, in the DNC chairmanship race. Martin subsequently removed her from the Rules and Bylaws Committee, according to the Times. Saunders had also supported Wikler.

“AFT & I will spend our time trying to make life better for working people in other ways,” Weingarten wrote on BlueSky. “There’s much to be done to save our democracy, educate our kids & help working people thrive.”