House Republican Leader Matt Hall on Tuesday called out House Democrats’ partisan legislation to expand the power of unions over Michigan’s public schools.

“House Democrats are placing their Big Labor allies’ quest for power ahead of Michigan parents and students,” said Hall, R-Richland Township. “These radical bills will let union bosses run roughshod over our public schools — undermining our most effective teachers, robbing Michigan students of the quality education they deserve, and keeping parents in the dark about their kids’ schooling. At the same time, they’re increasing costs and taking critical school funding out of the classroom. This extreme, partisan agenda neglects the needs of Michigan students just to reward Democrats’ union boss backers.”

House Democrats on Tuesday passed House Bills 4233, 4354, 4356, 4357, and 4820, which would enable union bosses to bargain over key school decisions and take power away from elected school boards and parents. The bills would repeal provisions of Michigan law that require school personnel policies to prioritize effective teachers. Additionally, unions would have a say in teacher evaluations, classroom observations, employee discipline, teacher placement, parental notification about ineffective teachers, contracts for transportation and other nonacademic services, and more. The legislation would also let public schools use taxpayer funding to help unions collect dues from employees.

The votes are not the first time this year Democrats have tried to make more school decisions subject to collective bargaining. In March, they tried to sneak a similar overhaul into legislation repealing core worker choice protections, but they backed off at the time when House Republicans and school leaders raised the alarm.