The strength of workers’ voice at work was undermined on June 27 by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

In a 5-4 decision, which casts aside decades of precedents and laws, the court has eliminated a public sector union’s ability to collect “fair share” or “agency” fees from workers who choose not to join as union members, but are still protected by union agreements. The ruling undermines the ability of educators to come together and bargain collectively on behalf of students.

“A strong union and collective bargaining agreements are what help to ensure students receive the tools and resources they need to succeed in school and in life,” says NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia. “We’ve seen it in the resources available to our students, and we have felt it in our paychecks.”

The ruling comes in a case that has been bankrolled by corporate interests wanting to rig the economic system further in their favor while robbing teachers, education support professionals, higher education faculty, corrections officers, sanitation and other workers of the freedom to join together to earn a decent living, provide for their families, and advocate for the needs of students.

“All over the country, they are cutting funding for arts and PE, up-to-date textbooks, recess, and class sizes that allow for one-on-one instruction. Many of our schools have faced serious funding cuts that are likely to grow even worse. Collective bargaining has been a critical tool to push back against these cuts and demand the resources our students deserve.

                                                           --NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia

Fair share fees help cover the cost of union representation and bargaining services that support high quality public schools and benefit employees by ensuring that their union can strongly advocate for them. This court decision comes as millions of American workers recommit to their unions and launch new organizing drives, and as support for labor unions has risen to its highest level in years.

The Janus decision will affect millions of workers in nearly half of the states that require payments from nonmembers to cover the cost of collective bargaining.

NEA filed an amicus brief in the case with the American Association of University Professors and many NEA affiliates. The brief highlighted the radical nature of the plaintiff’s arguments, including their legally unsupported claim that public-sector collective bargaining itself is constitutionally suspect.

In 1977, the court’s unanimous decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Educationsaid localities and states could authorize public employee unions to charge nonmembers for the cost of collective bargaining (fair share fees) but not for the union’s political activities. By overturning Abood, the court eliminated non-members’ fair share fees, though unions are still required by law to represent them. As a result of the decision, some workers will now have to make up for the costs others inflict on the union but decline to pay for. Allowing some employees to opt out of paying their fair share for union representation will make it harder for all public employees to advocate for the quality services that everyone depends on.

Janus was never about merits or law. It was about politics and rigging the system, economy, and democracy in favor of the wealthy and corporate CEOs.

Public opinion of teachers’ unions is robust. According to a recent NPR/Ipsos poll, two-thirds of those polled approve of teachers’ unions, three-quarters approve of educators’ right to strike, and just one in four believe educators in this country are paid fairly.

Recent #RedforEd actions in states like West Virginia, Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kentucky, and North Carolina have highlighted how educators are leading a nationwide movement to better fund our schools and better support our students. This action is yielding not only public support but measurable wins for students and educators as well as gains in members.

Meet 2018 National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning

Mandy Manning, an English and math teacher at Joel E. Ferris High School, whose refugee and immigrant students come to Spokane, Wash., from across the world, was named the 2018 National Teacher of the Year in April by theÊCouncil of Chief School State Officers (CCSSO).

An 18-year teaching veteran, Manning has taught at the Newcomer Center at Joel E. Ferris High School for seven years, and demonstrated anÊunwavering commitment toÊstudents who are adjusting to life in their new community.

“This year I hope to engage the nation in a conversation about how we can encourage students to experience things outside of their understanding. When we move out of our comfort zones, visit new places, listen to others’ thoughts, and share our own opinions, we become compassionate and open. This is the first step in creating a more hopeful, safer, and kinder society where everyone can be productive, global citizens.”

NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia has called Manning “a shining example of how teachers transform the lives of their students every day, engaging them and creating enthusiasm for learning.... Mandy sees no barriersÑonly bridges.”

Manning began her education career in the Peace Corps in Armenia, and has taught in Japan and in schools across the U.S. “Student-centered teaching is essential to my successes in the classroom,” said Manning. “Globally, we need to encourage others to explore, be fearless, and embrace new experiences with compassion.” Most of her students come to the U.S. seeking safety, “but they don’t always feel safe here,” Manning wrote in her application. The current political climate has only increased fear and anxiety, making it hard for newcomers to share and learn from others. Her classroom role, she says, is to “help them understand current events, know their rights, and provide a safe and welcoming environment.”

Idaho Teachers and Students Win Climate-Change Debate

After several years of often rancorous debateÑand more back-and-forth action than a beach restoration project Idaho lawmakers finally have decided that climate change will be taught in Idaho schools.

“It’s a wonderful thing for our state and its students!” said Coeur d’Alene environmental science teacher Jamie Esler, who served on a state committee of award-winning educators, parents, and scientists who developed the KÐ12 science standards.

The science standards developed by the highly qualified committee, over painstaking months of work, maintain “integrity around the science of climate,” and will enable Idaho science teachers to fully educate their students about human-caused climate change, said Esler.

It wasn’t easy getting to this point. In 2016, the Idaho House and Senate education committees first rejected the state’s science standards with members specifically objecting to aspects that referred to how human activity has caused climate change. With that, temporary standards were put into place for 2017 edited by the House committee to remove five paragraphs about climate changeÑand the state committee went to work on a solution.

Despite overwhelming public support for the standards, the House committee voted to reject the standards, making it possible for Idaho to be the only state in the U.S. to specifically exclude education about climate change from its classroom.

In late February, the state Senate Education Committee nullified the House action by a vote of 6 to 3. With that, the new standards will be in place for five years.

“To be honest, it’s kind of embarrassing that it’s been so controversial,” said state Sen. Jamie Ward-Engelking, a retired teacher and member of the Senate committee that overrode the House vote, to The New York Times.