@EdWorkingPaper{ai21-358,
title = "Heroes, Villains, or Something In Between? How 'Right to Work' Policies Affect Teachers, Students, and Education Policymaking",
author = "Melissa Arnold Lyon",
institution = "Annenberg Institute at Brown University",
number = "358",
year = "2021",
month = "February",
URL = "http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai21-358",
abstract = {Although the Janus v. AFCSME (2018) decision fundamentally changed the institutional context for U.S. teachers’ unions by placing all public school teachers in a “Right to Work” (RTW) framework, little research exists to conceptualize the effects of such policies that hinder unionization. To fill this gap, I exploit the different timing across states in the passage of RTW policies in a differences-in-differences framework to identify how exposure to a RTW policy affects students, teachers, and education policymaking. I find that RTW policies lead to declines in teachers’ union power, but contrary to what many union critics have argued, I find that efforts to weaken unions did not result in political opportunities for education reforms nor did they improve student achievement outcomes.},
}