School unionization is edging from the public to private realm in the state of Michigan. A recent court ruling determined that teachers at Brother Rice High School, a Catholic school in Bloomfield Hills, can vote on joining the Michigan Educational Association, against the wishes of the school’s administration. The teacher’s motivation for unionization is a combination of both personal pay cuts and the down-sizing of student programs.

John Birney, the Head of School at Brother Rice, says that while he accepts the faculty’s right to unionize, he doesn’t support a public union entering a private religious institution. The school has mounted an appeal, which has led to stay of the previous ruling until the appeal's judgement. Time is limited, however, since the appeal will be heard in September.