AFT President Takes Salary Cut but Overall Compensation Up

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten recently finished a tour of Michigan. In 2012, Weingarten received some heat after Michigan Capitol Confidential reported that her annual salary increased from $342,552 in 2010 to $407,323 in 2011, a $64,771 hike. That increase is about what a teacher with a master’s degree and 11 years of experience in the Lansing School District makes in a year. The AFT recently released Weingarten’s 2014 annual salary. It's now $375,174 – about $32,000 less than her salary in 2011.

ForTheRecord says: A union leader that took a pay cut while some of her members are faced with pay freezes should be applauded. But this may call for one of those polite “golf claps” because Weingarten’s total compensation is higher than ever at $557,875 in 2014, according to the AFT’s LM-2 report.

Weingarten’s total compensation is at an all-time high because of disbursements outside of her base salary that amounted to $182,701 for 2014. The $182,701 is listed as “disbursements” for “allowances” ($50,300) “official business” ($105,443) and “other” ($26,958). Weingarten went on an AFT-sponsored trip to Ukraine in March.

The AFT represents about 20,000 teachers in Michigan.