Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.

The case pits the right of public employees to band together and form effective unions to pursue the common interests of workers against the free speech rights of dissenting public employees to abstain from funding collective bargaining efforts with which they disagree.1 A decision by the Court against the teachers association could not only significantly weaken public sector unions, but also endanger the nation’s core democratic values.

A decision by the Court against the teachers association could not only significantly weaken public sector unions, but also endanger the nation’s core democratic values.

Read more by Richard D. Kahlenberg here.