As most Michiganders take a day off from paid labor, it is a good time to learn about workers’ rights here.

Unions have traditionally had a strong influence on labor policies in Michigan, though state residents did have a 14-year period during which they were not required to pay unions, even if they were employed in a unionized worksite. Things changed on Feb. 13, however, when right-to-work was no longer the law of the land for workers in the private sector.

Until 2012, Michigan’s laws heavily favored unions. Anyone who gained employment in a unionized facility had to pay union dues. Those who did not want to pay due still had to pay an agency fee, which was nearly as much as dues. Unions are required by law to calculate their political expenses and charge those costs to members, not fee-payers.

Public sector employees gained the right to be fee-payers by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, delivered May 23, 1977. Requiring a worker covered by a union contract to also pay the union for its political activity violates the worker’s First Amendment rights, the court ruled.

In 1999 the Mackinac Center for Public Policy published a report explaining labor law in Michigan. After the report came out, the state enacted and then repealed a right-to-work law, so some of it is obsolete. But the report still has a useful account of the state’s labor history.

During Michigan’s brief era of right-to-work, people had the power to refrain from union membership and fees, whether they were in the private sector or the public sector.

In 2018 public workers nationwide gained more freedom when the Supreme Court, in Janus v. AFSCME, ruled that unions could not compel workers to pay dues or fees. It said that public sector unions are inherently political organizations, so compelling payments to them would be to compel workers to engage in political speech.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, a pro-union president, opposed the idea of letting public sector unions organize. Roosevelt said public sector union strikes are “unthinkable and intolerable.” It was not until the John F. Kennedy administration that the federal government recognized unions.

While the Janus ruling frees public sector workers everywhere freedom from union mandates. the same is not true of those in the private sector. There, state law rules. In Michigan, that means mandatory agency fees for people covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

If you are a public sector worker and are being misled into believing you are required to pay anything to a union as a condition of employment, contact the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. It will help ensure that your rights are protected.

Michigan has spent heavily on early childhood education over the past 20 years, but it has not brought better academic outcomes. While spending increased, student proficiency dropped.

In fiscal year 2000-01, Michigan’s education spending on the School Aid Fund reached $10.8 billion. By fiscal year 2023-24, spending had more than doubled to $21 billion, according to the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expanded taxpayer funding for preschool in the latest budget.

The move mirrored an earlier expansion of government involvement in early education by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who formed the Early Childhood Investment Corporation in 2005.

“It is critical that we provide opportunities to stimulate and feed children’s minds by providing every child the opportunity for high-quality education and care,” Granholm said at the time.

Fourth grade is typically when students start falling behind. In 2000, Michigan’s fourth grade students performed above the national average on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card.

Nationally, the average NAEP score for fourth grade math in 2000 was 224, and Michigan scored 229. Only 11 states scored higher. The national average for reading in 1998 — there was no test in 2000 — was 213. Michigan had a higher score, 216 and ranked 18th in proficiency.

On the latest assessment, in 2023, the average national score for math was 235. Michigan trailed, with an average of 232. It now ranks 36th in math.

The results are similar for reading. Michigan’s average of 212 trails the national average of 216. Now the state ranks 41st.

In Detroit, 90% of students in public elementary and middle school are either not proficient or only partially proficient in English, according to Molly Macek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Only 5% of eighth graders are proficient in math.

Michigan’s K-12 education system has struggled for 20 years, Christian Barnard, assistant director of education reform at the Reason Foundation, told Michigan Capitol Confidential.

“The state’s public schools have seen some of the largest enrollment declines in the country, and student achievement on national tests has stagnated or declined despite increases in per-student funding,” Bernard said. “State leaders should focus on improving core K-12 education, not funneling tens of millions in new dollars towards pre-K.”

Michael F. Rice, superintendent of public instruction for the Michigan Department of Education, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Michigan is making progress, according to Bob Wheaton, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education.

“In the National Institute for Early Education Research Annual Yearbook, Michigan’s pre-kindergarten program continues to be tied for first in quality but is 18th in access, with a little more than one-third of all 4-year-olds enrolled in GSRP preschool last year,” Wheaton told CapCon in an email.

Since Granholm, the budget for early childhood education has gone up to at least $780.4 million for the 2024-25 school year. That includes $609.7 million in general funding, $42 million for early literacy coaches, and $25 million in start-up grants.