The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling Wednesday that will reverberate through America’s schools for years.
In Janus v. AFSCME, a 5-4 court majority overturned precedent, saying that public sector unions, like those that represent law enforcement, state employees, and, of course, teachers, can no longer collect what are known as agency fees from nonmembers.
“States and public-sector unions may no longer extract agency fees from nonconsenting employees,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito. “The First Amendment is violated when money is taken from nonconsenting employees for a public-sector union; employees must choose to support the union before anything is taken from them.”