EXCLUSIVE: Parental Rights Groups Rip Teachers Union Bosses Boycotting Target Instead Of Helping Kids

Parental rights advocates and conservative groups are outraged that one of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions is rallying against retail giant Target for scaling back its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs instead of focusing on educating children.

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacy Davis Gates, are publicly rallying against Target for retreating from its divisive DEI goals amid declining sales. The unions are calling on the retailer to recommit to its DEI principles, make “a multimillion-dollar investment into 23 Black-owned banks,” fulfill “its $2 billion pledge to the Black business community” and establish “10 retail training centers at historically Black colleges and universities.” (RELATED: Top Teachers Unions Funneled Millions In Member Dues To Pro-DEI And Trans Orgs)

“To the detriment of American kids, Randi Weingarten has spent years pushing activist curricula and radical ideology into classrooms under the guise of ‘education,’” Alleigh Marré, executive director of American Parents Coalition (APC), said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As the devastating learning loss suffered during the pandemic continues to plague students, Weingarten is more concerned with the hiring practices of retail stores and spends her time calling for boycotts against those that scale back DEI schemes. Her priorities couldn’t be more misplaced.”

Weingarten stated the union “rarely engage[s] in this type of action, but we’re doing so here because Target betrayed promises to communities of color throughout the United States.” However, a recent report from Defending Education (DE) found that AFT has funneled millions of dollars in membership dues toward political activism, including to organizations such as the  Trevor Project, an organization that supports “affirming” gender-confused children.

Pride Month merchandise is displayed at a Target store on May 31, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“The AFT seems to be very involved in every issue EXCEPT for educating America’s children,” Nicole Neily, president of DE, told the DCNF. “With members’ dues being allocated to pet political projects and leadership’s decision to spend its finite bandwidth tilting at windmills like DEI-related boycotts, it’s little wonder that members are leaving the union en masse.”

AFT and CTU did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Target was previously one of the biggest corporate supporters of DEI, promising racial quotas in its workforce and unveiling a 2023 “Pride Collection” in stores featuring themed clothing for children and babies. Like many other companies, Target backtracked after intense backlash and losing billions in market value.

“The same fringe left-wing activists who pushed CRT and ESG continue to try and derail efforts to restore normalcy to corporate America,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, told the DCNF. “Now the teachers’ union is after Target because the company got rid of their discriminatory policies.”

“Instead of recognizing that companies must serve all customers fairly, these activists are waging politically motivated boycotts against companies who refuse to push their woke agenda. These political hijackings of our institutions should never be tolerated again and Target deserves immense credit for standing firm and rejecting the far-left madness,” Hild said.

“Parents are fed up with the politicization of schools and should look no further than Teachers Union leadership to understand the root of the problem,” Marré continued. “It’s time for activists like Randi Weingarten to stop pushing propaganda and start focusing on what kids actually need: a strong, foundational education.”