School of Public Policy to Host Panel: "From the Classroom to the Supreme Court" on March 15

The School of Public Policy will host a panel to discuss a historic Supreme Court case, Friedrichs v. the California Teachers' Association (CTA), on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, from 6-8 pm in the Executive Center Dining Room on the Drescher Graduate Campus. 

Last year, Orange County elementary school teacher Rebecca Friedrichs joined a group of fellow teachers to argue against the right of the California Teachers' Association to automatically withdraw membership dues from their paychecks. The case concluded on a 4-4 tie following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Friedrichs' case raised major issues pertaining to collective bargaining and First Amendment rights of freedom to associate for compelled union members to pay dues to their unions. A new case with similar issues is bound for the court--but Friedrichs' leadership was key in this issue, which will affect every agency shop in the nation.

Join us for a provocative discussion about the future of efforts like this and learn more about what it was like to take a case from a small elementary school in Orange County all the way to the Supreme Court!        

Panelists: 
Rebecca Friedrichs, 3rd Grade Teacher, Lead Plaintiff
Gary Beckner, Chairman and President, Association of American Educators
Larry Sand, President, California Teachers Empowerment Network

Moderator:
Dr. Gloria Romero, adjunct faculty, School of Public Policy