Since September 30, 2005, the California Teachers Association "CTA" has been automatically collecting an additional $60 a year in dues from all 335,000 teachers and college professors statewide. Six teachers, represented by the National Right to Work Legal Foundation, filed a class-action lawsuit against the union in late August, citing a 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision that says all union members must be notified of how their forced union dues are spent and be given a chance to prevent their money being spent for purposes other than collective bargaining.

Lead plaintiff Judy Liegmann, a fifth-grade teacher from Sunnyvale, said she found out about the three-year increase in late June from the CTA representative at her school. The union never formally notified her or told her of her constitutionally guaranteed options.

"Assessing dues for political purposes without asking permission [from members] ahead of time is very strange," Liegmann said. "That's money that has to do with our convictions. The union has done nothing to let teachers know they voted in an arbitrary way to dip into every teacher's paycheck to fight a political battle whether the teachers liked it or not."

While the U.S Supreme Court precedent boded well for the class-action lawsuit, Justin Hakes, a spokesman for the National Right to Work Legal Foundation, said the October 6 ruling violated teachers' consciences.

"The whole point of [seeking to freeze the funds] was that once the election is over, the money's been spent, and you can't undo the results of the election," he said. "Once someone's conscience has been violated, you can't undo that."