Statement from CER Founder & CEO on Supreme Court Split Decision in Friedrichs Case
Jeanne Allen: Issue of Teachers’ Rights Not Going Away
WASHINGTON, DC (March 29, 2016)- Jeanne Allen, Founder and CEO of The Center for Education Reform, issued the following statement on the 4-4 Supreme Court ruling in the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association et al. case this morning:
The Supreme Court’s split decision on whether or not teachers should have the freedom to make decisions regarding their employment, unfettered by union control, does not mean that the issue of teachers’ rights is going away.
Why, in America, when we have freedom of choice and not a day goes by that we as a nation are not working to expand it to those who are denied, do we deny it to teachers to make their own decisions about how and under what conditions they should do their important work?
Great education is about great educators, and great educators need freedom. Great and courageous teachers like Rebecca Friedrichs have already exposed the public to the issue of union collective bargaining power in education, and when they come back to fight to make workplace freedom a reality, we will be ready to help them fight for their ability to be treated as professionals. We simply must. If we cannot educate children unfettered by the politics of unions, we cannot succeed as a nation.
