Rebecca Friedrichs' book is a moving account of her 30-year teaching career in elementary public schools and the many wonderful teachers, parents, and students she encountered along the way. Most of these teachers, like Friedrichs herself, only wanted to educate and nurture their students, but they were continually faced with the corruption and greed of the teachers unions whenever they opposed the dictates of the leftwing agenda.

But Goliath is also the story of how perhaps the most important education lawsuit in recent decades, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, et al, made it to the United States Supreme Court in 2016. Friedrichs and nine other teachers brought suit against both the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the National Education Association (NEA) after many years of up-close-and-personal witnessnessing of union abuse, which left them with no redress or means for making their voices heard. The intent of the litigation was to free public school teachers and administrators from the stranglehold of the unions and allow them to form their own local associations.

Friedrichs v. CTA reached the high court on appeal when, as the plaintiffs and their lawyers expected, two lower courts ruled against them, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The team was encouraged that the Supreme Court would accept their case when the justices ruled in favor of Harris v. Quinn. "We were watching the case," writes Friedrichs, "because if they won, the [Supreme] Court would almost certainly accept our case. Pam Harris and her fellow plaintiffs received a 5-4 decision in their favor, so we were celebrating."

The Harris decision "freed only home healthcare providers and home childcare providers," Friedrichs explains. "Our case sought to go a step further; we wanted to free all government employees from forced unionism by overturning the 1977 Supreme Court precedent-setting case Abood v. Detroit Board of Education. Friedrichs opines: "Surely, the justices in 1977 didn't understand that permitting forced union fees would result in the abuse of workers and children, the downfall of our educational system, and that unions would become the poster child for the saying, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely.'"

During oral arguments on January 11, 2016, Friedrichs and her team appeared to be winning. All nine justices asked pertinent questions, and both Justices Kennedy and Roberts made points that appeared favorable to the plaintiffs. But the most convincing argument came from Justice Scalia, who observed: "... everything that is collectively bargained with the government is within the political sphere, almost by definition," to which, shockingly, the other side agreed, after years of denial. In other words, the unions' lawyer for all intents and purposes admitted that "since collective bargaining in the public sector is political, the unions [have] no constitutional right to force any [teachers] to pay them one red cent."

A favorable resolution appeared a near-certainty following the oral arguments, but on February 13, tragedy struck with the unforeseen death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Instantly, defeat in the Friedrichs case became a foregone conclusion, and, indeed, a 4-4 split decision was ultimately handed down by the high court. The NEA representatives, which had been making conciliatory noises about "working together" with teachers before Scalia's death adopted an in-your-face, you lost, we won scenario, and boasted that they had regained the upper hand.

Although readers may get the impression that Standing Up to Goliath focuses almost exclusively on the court case, it mostly chronicles the long series of events and circumstances leading to the filing of the lawsuit.

At first, Friedrichs tried working with the unions through accepted channels, politely opposing such issues as abusive teachers who were protected through tenure, the attacks on charter schools, the pitting of teachers against administrators, the disregard of legitimate parental concerns, the increasingly pornographic sex education curricula, the divisiveness of racial equity programs, the move to infiltrate and take over the PTA, and others.

For a time, Friedrichs even took a position as a union leader, believing she might make a difference in this way. But she resigned in 2011, having "gained a new understanding of teachers." She writes that "the large majority was totally unwilling to face or expose the abuse within our union because the unions' psychological manipulations — fear, intimidation, ignorance, and isolation — worked." She describes how "a very loud minority of angry, union-controlled teachers effectively drowned out the voices of the terrified but overwhelmingly kind majority," and that "most of the terrified were never going to stand up against [them] no matter how hard I fought for their rights." Throughout the book, she characterizes the unions' persistence in silencing whistleblowers and all who dared to oppose their power as being "all about the money."

The author engages readers with many personal stories of teachers, parents, and even students of good will who tried to battle the unions and were coerced into silence through the scare tactics and mafia-style bullying the unions employed. Their stories are often poignant and even tragic, but told in such a way that makes the book hard to put down.

Friedrichs even bares her soul with her own stories of personal struggle, which began when her first marriage ended in divorce, leaving her to raise her biological son alone. Years later, she encountered more serious challenges when she remarried and began co-parenting her stepson with her new husband. The means they found as a family to overcome and surmount the obstacles they faced are both absorbing and inspiring.

After her crushing defeat at the hands of a divided U.S. Supreme Court, Friedrichs, her family, and her supporters regrouped. She writes: "The most common question teachers across the country ask me is, 'Can I keep my local association and get rid of the state and national unions?' The answer is yes, but most teachers don't know it."

To remedy the problem, she started a "Keep Your Local campaign to educate teachers on their rights." Using the biblical Ruth as an example, Friedrichs called on fellow activists to stand together "with parents, pastors, mature students and community members in solidarity with teachers who want to reject union control and start their own local associations. "A massive army of Ruths is vital to come alongside, shine truth, and offer support," she writes.

Friedrichs also founded a national organization called For Kids and Country, through which she continues her persistence in standing up to "Goliath." Her organization's mission is "to unite, educate, engage, and empower parents, teachers, students, and citizens in the fight to restore America's schools and culture."

This reviewer found Friedrichs' book to be a must-read. From the dozens of true stories about real people caught in the public-school trap to the nearly palpable atmosphere of fear and intimidation created by union leaders in order to safeguard their power and dues money, it leaves little doubt as to the greatest problem facing public education today. The good news is it also provokes and motivates; readers will likely be called to change it.

Editor's note: With the appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017 to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a "landmark" 5-4 decision in a similar case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, or Janus v. AFSCME. When no decision was reached in the Friedrichs case, Illinois state employee Mark Janus petitioned for a writ of certiorari from the Supreme Court, which was granted on September 28, 2017. On June 27, 2018, the Court found that the application of public sector union fees to non-members is a violation of the First Amendment, ruling against AFSCME and striking down the Abood decision. Thus far, however, the ruling has not appeared to impact the teachers unions' power and influence.

To read the entire book, go here to order!

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