When charter schools started in the early 1990's, part of their mandate was to run excellent schools by getting around union-imposed red tape. Today there are thousands of charter schools and the numbers are still growing. Now teachers' unions have targeted charter schools for their organizing efforts.

According to its internal documents, the California Teachers Association is preparing to spend at least $1.75 million over the next three years to unionize Golden State Charter Schools. In fact, California has already has a relatively high percentage of unionized charter teachers at 35%. But there's evidence in the union's notes that this may be a "poison pill" as the CTA is looking to, in their words, "slow the creation of charter schools." Union officials claim that charter teachers are routinely undercompensated.