Since the Janus v. AFSCME case was argued at the U.S. Supreme Court, teacher unions have begun lobbying their willing allies in legislatures and statehouses to pass laws that would skirt an expected ruling for workers' rights (expected in June).  Vincent Vernuccio and Chantal Lovell write in Commentary: Unions circumventing the Supreme Court that "Washington state is the breeding ground for most legislation attempting to undermine the court." 

On March 16, the Freedom Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington state, filed a class action lawsuit against one of  the most powerful unions in Washington state, the Washington Education Association (WEA).  The suit seeks to stop compulsory union dues as well as seek to provide repayment of the funds unconstitutionally taken from nonunion teachers.

Recently, Mary Spiker testified in front of the Idaho Senate and the Idaho House Education Committees on the significant challenges faced by teachers in the modern kindergarten classroom.  Ms. Spiker is not only Idaho’s 2017 Teacher of the Year, but also an NWPE member.  She is involved in the Idaho Council of the International Literacy Association and the Building Level Match Coach program in Pocatello.  Read her testimony below to learn what those challenges are, what she and her colleagues did to address the challenges, and what she recommends to better meet students' needs:

Justices will rule on school choice and charter schools again 

by Rep. Matt Manweller

The Idaho School Choice Week planning committee has been working diligently to bring the most outstanding School Choice rally to Idaho’s capitol yet!  Creative minds with big hearts are at the soul of this event set to take place on Wednesday, January 27 at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, ID.

Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE), the state’s premier non-union professional educators’ organization, fully supports Idaho Freedom Foundation’s (IFF) complaint over the Boise School District’s use of tax payer dollars and union dues.

Today, Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE) joins with 99 partner organizations to celebrate National Employee Freedom Week (NEFW), a national campaign to promote employee rights of association and free speech.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it will take up the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case. This landmark case challenges the ability of unions to collect dues from employees who may not wish to be a part of the union or object to the use of their dues on issues which they fundamentally disagree with. This case lays out a First Amendment freedom of speech challenge to the long standing forced unionism policy.

Thousands of Washington and Oregon educators who don’t want union representation and don’t want to pay union dues are forced to do so because of state laws made possible by the Supreme Court’s 1977 Abood decision. The Supreme Court signaled this week that it may be prepared to strike down this anti-teacher choice practice once and for all.

The Collier County Educator’s Association  (CCEA) in Florida has threatened to take legal action against school board member Kelly Lichter in an attempt to silence her efforts to make local educators aware of their professional options for association membership.

Nevada recently made headlines for becoming the fifth state in the nation to enact an Education Savings Account (ESA) law. This landmark legislation marks a new high-point for school choice advocates both in the state and across the nation.

The reauthorization of No Child Left Behind is making big waves among policymakers, journalists, and educators who are eager to see improvements to a policy that for years has left many educators in a teaching gridlock.

Earlier this month, AAE joined an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in support of the petition for certiorari in the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association as part of a continuing effort to give individual teachers a professional voice outside the union.

Today, the Idaho House of Representatives made Idaho the fifth state to pass legislation to implement the Civics Education Initiative, a bill designed to increase citizen engagement by requiring high school students to pass the same U.S. Citizenship Test that immigrants must pass to become U.S. citizens as a high school graduation requirement.  The bill, already passed by the Idaho Senate, now goes to Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter for signature.

Senator Jim Patrick from Twin Falls, Idaho, has introduced a bill to deal with an important issue for Idaho's education system, namely, increasing the knowledge and engagement of Idaho’s young voters-to-be.  According to Sam Stone, political director for the Civics Education Initiative, about 92 percent of immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship pass the American citizenship test on their first try, but studies in Arizona and Oklahoma have found that less than 5 percent of high school students passed the test.

Idahoans for Local Education (I4LE) is a group working to advance local control in Idaho's education system and stopping Common Core State Standards.  I4LE wants to preserve Idaho’s local educational sovereignty by keeping educational decision making close to home, where parents can make a difference.  It also works to ensure that Idaho‘s education system has the highest standards so students are given the ability to be anyone they want to be.  To this end, I4LE is sponsoring an event hosting Dr. Peg Luksik addressing "Common Core, SBAC Tests & The Truth."

With renewed focus on overhauling the No Child Left Behind law gaining traction among Hill insiders, many educators are left wondering whether or not their best interests will be represented in reauthorization efforts. As the nation’s leading voice for professional educators, AAE is taking action and is sending Congress a clear message on behalf of teachers. Here’s what Executive Director Gary Beckner had to say:

State leaders should trust parents to make smart decisions about their children’s educational futures. That is the key message of an historic march and celebration that will take place in Boise on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 at 12:00 pm, school choice supporters announced today.

Mike Antonucci from the Education Intelligence Agency couldn’t have put it better when he said that for unions to really make great strides on behalf of Millenials in the teaching profession it “would require sacrificing the interests of those in the room for those still outside of the building.”