California’s teachers unions are going to court again. This time, it’s the California Teachers Association versus three teachers who first brought suit in 2015. While a district court judge threw out the case that year, it returned with a vengeance. Now, it’s with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

At issue is a bone of contention familiar to California court-watchers — the practice of public-sector unions using significant portions of mandatory dues for partisan political purposes. In addition to the Vergara case challenging state teachers unions on civil rights grounds, CTA came in for similar scrutiny in the Friedrichs case in 2014. That case resulted in a 4-4 tie on the Supreme Court because of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. This time, plaintiffs deserve better.

As one of the three bringing suit in the current case, Bain v. CTA, Arcadia High School Assistant Principal Bhavini Bhakta has endured typical attacks portraying her as a corporate tool. The truth is, the unions have it out for Bhakta, who testified against them in Vergara and was laid off despite winning a Teacher of the Year award in the Monrovia Unified School District. She also dared to voice an opinion on more detailed teacher evaluations that the union opposed.

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Mixed messages and conflicting ideas in our pandemic age CTA would like to be rid of Bhakta and her inconvenient testimony. But it’s not that easy. To be sure, the union has put together a dogged defense. CTA argues granting votes to payers is an unconstitutional infringement upon its right to association.

It’s hard to square that claim with the evidence. For when unions spend big on partisan causes, as they do each year in Sacramento, they’re compelling payers to associate with expressly political speech, no matter how much they disagree. This goes well beyond the respected and legitimate function of unions, which is to establish and ensure collective bargaining in the workplace.

The Bain case is another reminder that California’s teachers unions have created an unfair and biased power structure that just can’t last in an era that demands flexibility and progress in education. It’s unfortunate that their leaders would prefer repeat visits to high courts over admitting their mistakes and getting their house in order.