The Dispute Index

Randi Weingarten

Portrait of Randi Weingarten
Molly Theobald / AFL-CIO (labor2008)

Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Website (opens in a new tab)
Bluesky (opens in a new tab)Facebook (opens in a new tab)Instagram (opens in a new tab)Threads (opens in a new tab)Substack (opens in a new tab)

What DI has documented

DI has documented statements by Randi Weingarten on 2026 Midterm Elections, Artificial Intelligence, and Education, among other topics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.

Topics in this coverage

Show all 11 topics

Statements by Randi Weingarten

Portrait of Randi Weingarten

Randi Weingarten

Role at the time: AFT president and Cornell alumna, jointly signing an open letter

Condemned

Statement summary

In a joint letter with Melinda Person, Weingarten calls for Cornell's trustees to demand Kotlikoff's resignation over his handling of sexual-violence allegations.

“For these reasons, we are calling on the Board of Trustees to demand President Michael Kotlikoff ’s resignation.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Randi Weingarten and Melinda Person call for Kotlikoff's resignationEdited version of the jointly signed letter
Why we used this label

The subject is Cornell's handling of the allegations and disciplinary response. Weingarten and Person call for Cornell's trustees to demand Kotlikoff's resignation over his handling of sexual-violence allegations.

Read statementDid Cornell adequately discipline the students named in the Cornell 7 lawsuit?
Portrait of Randi Weingarten

Randi Weingarten

Role at the time: President of the American Federation of Teachers, a plaintiff in the lawsuit

Condemned

Statement summary

AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a Legal Defense Fund release announcing the September 18 lawsuit that deploying federal agents to strike fear into voters at polling places is a tactic out of the authoritarian playbook. She called it intimidation that has no place in a true democracy and said citizens need to exercise their right to vote without "running the gauntlet of an armed, masked militia."

“Deploying federal agents to strike the fear of god into voters at polling places is a tactic straight out of the authoritarian playbook It’s intimidation pure and simple and has no place in a true democracy. No matter your politics, American citizens need to be able to exercise their basic democratic right without running the gauntlet of an armed, masked militia”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Civil rights coalition files federal lawsuit challenging threatened use of ICE and federal law enforcement at polling locationsPress release of Sept. 18, 2026, including plaintiff and counsel statements
Why we used this label

The case records responses to the administration's stated or threatened use of ICE and other armed federal agents at or near polling places. Weingarten called deploying federal agents to strike fear into voters at polling places a tactic from the authoritarian playbook and intimidation with no place in a true democracy, and said citizens need to be able to vote without running the gauntlet of an armed, masked militia. She set no condition, so we labeled it Condemned.

Read statementShould ICE and other armed federal agents be allowed at or near polling places in the 2026 election?
Portrait of Randi Weingarten

Randi Weingarten

Role at the time: AFT president and Academy agreement representative

Mixed or conditional

Statement summary

Weingarten supports enforceable AI protections while backing restrictions on direct use by younger students.

“anything less than legally enforceable provisions is simply a wish list”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)AFT, UFT and Microsoft announce national school-AI safety and privacy standards · MicrosoftWeingarten, Smith and Mulgrew quotation blocks; agreement link
Why we used this label

Supports a constrained approach to student use, combining safeguards with younger-grade restrictions.

Read statementShould schools pause student-facing AI despite Microsoft’s new privacy safeguards?

A participant is a subject of the case. A speaker has a statement documented in it. A commentator has an opinion or editorial documented in it.