Washington, DC (January 29, 2015) – Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, has issued the following statement in recognition of National School Choice Week 2015:

“For many years, union officials orchestrated a prolonged campaign to delegitimize and do away with school choice and charter schools. Despite that opposition, charter schools have enjoyed steady growth both in popularity and in practice.

“As such, union officials have decided that if they can’t stop the growth of charter schools, then they might as well try to force charter school employees under a union monopoly. Of course this could prove disastrous for charter school teachers and students nationwide.

“The unionization of charter schools jumped 444 percent in the last decade, 2001-10, compared 1992-2000, and is increasing rapidly. But all charter school employees are entitled to certain constitutional and statutory rights. And unfortunately, these rights are not automatically provided.

“To enjoy many of the benefits of these protected rights, an employee may first have to assert his or her entitlement to them. Unfortunately, union officials often keep workers in the dark about their rights.

“Led by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, the National Right to Work Foundation’s Charter School Initiative aims to enlighten charter school employees so that they can make decisions about union representation in an atmosphere free of union boss threats, harassment, coercion, or misrepresentation. To that end, Foundation attorneys have developed free educational materials for charter school teachers and employees. Furthermore, Foundation staff attorneys are prepared to defend charter school workers from the injustices of forced unionism.

“Charter school employees: You have rights. For more information about your rights and the Foundation’s Charter School Initiative, check out our website at www.nrtw.org/charterschools.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.