Court makes it harder for unions to get fees fron non-members

From Education Week:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday made it more difficult for public-employee unions to extract special fee assessments from non-members for expenses such as ballot battles.

And over sharp dissents, the court required such unions, including teachers’ unions, to gain the “opt-in” consent of non-members to face such special fees, instead of the more prevalent practice of making the employees take steps to “opt out.”

“When a public-sector union imposes a special assessment or dues increase, the union must provide a fresh Hudson notice and may not exact any funds from nonmembers without their affirmative consent,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote for the court in Knox v. Service Employees International Union.

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Statewide professional development for educators begins

From the Baltimore Sun: 

About a week after most area schools closed, teachers and administrators were back in the classroom, taking part in a summer course that will prepare educators for implementing new standards across the state for the 2013-2014 school year.

The state’s Educator Effectiveness Academies began this week as part of what school officials say is a continuation of the largest professional development program in state history. (Read More)

LA judge orders district to include students scores in teacher evaluations

From the Los Angeles Times:
In a tentative ruling that could potentially transform California teacher evaluations, the Los Angeles Unified School District was ordered Monday to use students’ academic achievement in reviewing instructors.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant upheld contentions by a group of Los Angeles parents that the district was violating a 40-year-old state law, known as the Stull Act, which requires that teacher evaluations include measures of how well pupils are learning what the state and district expects them to know each year. The law was amended in 1999 to specifically require the use of state standardized test scores as one measure.

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