April 11, 2025 – The New Jersey Attorney General joined with 19 other Attorneys General to file an Amicus Brief in support of a lawsuit filed by the AAUP challenging the Federal Administration policy of ideological deportations of students and scholars. The AAUP and various faculty groups and chapters also filed their own supporting Amicus Brief. These lawsuits and briefs are important in the defense of free speech and academic freedom.

March 27, 2025 – Federal Executive Order on Collective Bargaining Rights of Federal Employees. This Executive Order targets Unions that represent a wide variety of Federal Workers. Subsequently, the Office of Personnel Management issued guidance that, as you will read, strips unionized workers of protections afforded under their Collective Bargaining Agreements. This action affects over 700,000 Federal employees across more than 30 agencies. The ramifications of this Executive Order could also impact higher education as they appear to be a step in weakening labor unions as a whole. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech recently wrote: “The right to collectively bargain is a defining issue of basic human rights. On behalf of all of our rank-and file-members, we call upon our legislators to uphold the commitments they have made to working families in preserving these fundamental freedoms and stand in support of all union members.” The PSA supports our unionized Federal workers and their right to collectively bargain.

March 13, 2025 – The New Jersey Attorney General joined a coalition of 20 other Attorneys General to “stop the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education“. In announcing the legal action, Attorney General Platkin writes “…the coalition today filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the targeted destruction of this critical federal agency that ensures tens of millions of students receive a quality education and critical resources.” The lawsuit can be found at this link.

March 5, 2025 – Guidance from State Attorneys General regarding the February 14, 2025 “Dear Colleague” letter and the February 28, 2025 FAQ issued by the US Education Department (USED). This letter provides information on what the relevant laws are, states that these USED letters do not change the law, provides support for what can be interpreted as curricular and classroom instructional freedom, and concludes with a promise by the States’ Attorneys General to uphold the civil rights protections that are lawfully permitted to each of us. On March 6, 2025, the State of New Jersey Department of Higher Education provided notification of the guidelines to NJ-AFT and other groups.

March 3, 2025 – The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) of New Jersey has put together an estimate of the potential loss of funding should potential cuts to the Department of Education be enacted. Please see this flyer for a summary.

February 10, 2025 – Injunction filed by the Attorneys General of various states including New Jersey to block the reduction of NIH indirect costs to 15%.