Historically, there have been many instances where Black student-athletes utilized activism to be change agents within athletics and the broader society. This article utilizes Harry Edward's four waves of Black athlete activism as historical context for legal and political activism as contemporary and future protest strategies among Black…

Parental and community supports are important factors for Latino student academic success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the parental and community activism surrounding the "San Antonio v. Rodriguez" school finance case in order to better understand how historic means of activism relate to the contemporary ways that Latino…

In "Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31", the U.S. Supreme Court ended the practice of enabling public-sector unions to collect "fair-share" or "agency" fees from employees who decline to join. Although federal law prohibits requiring workers to join a union as a…

The U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 decision in "Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees" (AFSCME) (referred to as "Janus" hereafter) prohibited state and local government worker unions from negotiating collective bargaining agreements with fair share fee arrangements. In this report, the authors…

Since the 1960s, teachers unions across the United States have used strikes or the threat of strikes to influence the terms of collective bargaining agreements with local school districts. In the spring of 2018, teachers in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, and elsewhere changed their tack, staging walkouts designed to secure salary hikes and…

This article is a summary discussion of the main issues faced by faculty at private, often church-sponsored, universities who sought to be represented by a union in collective bargaining with their employers. The discussion begins by tracing the origins of the rule that faculty at private universities are managers and not employees under the aegis…

Teachers unions have had a "muscular" presence in some states, but in others, especially in the South and Southwest, the unions have held little power in recent decades, and the growing dominance of conservative Republicans in state legislatures and statehouses was creating a hostile environment with right-to-work (RTW) laws. The…

Right-to-work (RTW) laws neither provide opportunity for gainful employment nor a higher standard of living. In truth, by ending a union's ability to charge administrative fees to employees who benefit from their collectively bargained contract, these laws aim to weaken unions and silence workers. They are designed to help employers, not workers.…

In 2012, families in California filed a lawsuit alleging that five state statutes governing teacher tenure, dismissal, and seniority together violate the state constitution's requirements for equal protection. Central to the case were competing narratives about the relationship between these statutes, the work of teachers, and the achievement of…

In its stunning and far-reaching decision in the "Pacific Lutheran University" case (12/16/14), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) opened the door to union organizing among faculty at thousands of private-sector institutions, both secular and religious. The question before the NLRB was whether a local of the Service Employees…

Background: Over the past decade, courts and administrative agencies increasingly have considered cases that involve clashes between charter school proponents and teacher unions. While these cases have focused on a range of education policy issues, some cases have focused on arguably the most important legal and policy distinction applicable to…

In March 2017, the Supreme Court decided "Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association" and upheld the constitutionality of agency fees for nonunion teachers. We examine how "Friedrichs" reflects a host of issues grouped around a patchwork of ideological commitments regarding teachers unions and public-sector unions more…

In March 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court decided "Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association," a case addressing the constitutionality of "agency fees" for non-union teachers in California. Although the Court's 4-4 decision in the wake of Justice Scalia's death upheld the constitutionality of agency fees, several similar…

The recent decision by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that Northwestern University football players on scholarship are "employees" entitled to unionize under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) should serve as a wake-up call for higher education administrators. Part of a trend in which both the NLRB…

For 50 years, American education policy has often danced to the tune of labor realities. "Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association" is a case that awaits hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court that could dramatically change this picture. The case, if decided for the plaintiffs, could end the practice of "agency" fees--money…