On March 28, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed an anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) higher education law that regulates classroom discussions, puts diversity scholarships at risk, and largely bans diversity efforts on campus. Apart from thwarting diversity measures at public universities, the bill also prohibits faculty strikes, creates post-tenure reviews, and blocks faculty unions from negotiating on tenure—marking one of the most significant rollbacks of collective bargaining in the state in years.

The bill reflects a broader national trend: In the lead-up to the fall 2025 school year, roughly a dozen states have passed anti-DEI legislation targeting higher education, including bans on DEI offices and trainings, censorship of equity topics in classrooms, and prohibitions on diversity statements in admissions and hiring. Ohio’s case, however, highlights how this agenda evolves differently across states.

Unlike some states, Ohio has historically maintained a strong state law protecting public employees’ rights to unionize and collectively bargain—including the legally protected right to strike. And unlike many states, Ohio has never adopted anti-union so-called “right-to-work” (RTW) legislation. Indeed, past efforts to strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights (or to introduce RTW legislation) were met with intense and successful public opposition from Ohio voters. That history helps explain why legislators this year combined anti-DEI measures with new restrictions targeting only faculty unions: It is the latest variation in a decades-long pattern of conservative efforts to chip away at worker power and limit equity gains—most recently by demonizing educators and public education systems.

These recent right-wing attacks on public universities, public schools, and unions are not random; they target institutions that have historically expanded racial, gender, and economic equity for working people—which is precisely why they are under assault today.

Cost to teachers and unions

While Ohio’s legislation targets higher education faculty, K–12 unions have also been on the front lines of these fights. Teachers’ unions have been at the forefront of defending against the Trump administration’s anti-union and anti-equity policies, serving as plaintiffs in nearly a quarter of the education-related lawsuits filed this past spring. These lawsuits seek to block the administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education; eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; and bar collective bargaining for teachers at the more than 160 Department of Defense schools. On the state level, teacher unions have also been fighting to increase funding for early child care, K–12 education, and health care, and to block private school vouchers.

Given the explicit attacks on education at both the federal and state levels, educators and their unions across K–12 and higher education have been increasingly vulnerable to political and legal efforts to dictate what they can teach. In some cases, anti-equity laws are also being paired with anti-union provisions that weaken the right to collectively bargain. Earlier this year, for example, over 50 universities were under investigation from by the Department of Education for allegedly using “racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.” At the same time, K–12 teachers face the threat of losing their jobs or their schools’ state funding for using inclusive curricula that address race, gender, or sexual orientation. These efforts reflect a broader strategy by state and local governments to curb so-called “indoctrination” and censor education at every level.

In conjunction with state anti-DEI attacks, some states have taken a much bolder approach in disempowering public-sector employees and their right to unionize. This year, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a collective bargaining ban across all of Utah’s public sectors including education, transit, and law enforcement. Teachers—the largest group of public employees in the state—are disproportionately affected by the bill. Many educators see the measure as an effort to clear the way for an ultraconservative education agenda. The backlash has been immediate: Voters have already filed a ballot initiative to repeal the law—echoing Ohio’s 2011 SB5 fight, when an attempted rollback of strong public-sector bargaining rights was overturned at the ballot box. In recent years, Utah lawmakers have pushed to eliminate DEI programs, expand school choice vouchers, and restrict transgender bathroom access—the last of which passed earlier this year.

Across the country, state legislators have advanced broad anti-equity measures while simultaneously attempting to weaken education unions to push those agendas forward. This dual threat to public education and organized labor represents a direct attack on worker power and equity, placing both students and teachers at risk.

Undermining equity by undermining unions

Anti-equity policies will likely continue to affect postsecondary curricula, enrollment, and the strength of teachers’ unions. Of the 12 states that enacted anti-DEI legislation this year, many are also states where public-sector workers—including teachers and higher education faculty—have limited or no collective bargaining rights. Research shows that weaker bargaining protections are associated with lower union density, lower wages, and wider gender and racial pay gaps. By weakening organized labor, these policies diminish one of the strongest forces for challenging anti-equity agendas and create conditions for exclusionary laws to advance with less resistance. Across states, however, the more consistent factor is Republican-majority legislatures advancing a nationally coordinated set of anti-DEI and anti-union measures. This overlap underscores how linking attacks on equity and labor reinforces the harm inflicted in both areas.

Taken together, these efforts reveal a coordinated strategy: advancing anti-equity legislation while simultaneously undermining the unions best positioned to resist it. By weakening collective bargaining rights, lawmakers not only silence educators’ voices in shaping policy but also strip them of the power to fight for fair wages, inclusive classrooms, and supportive learning environments.

Ultimately, the erosion of both equity initiatives and labor protections jeopardizes the future of public education and public sector work. These attacks are designed not only to silence inclusive teaching and weaken unions, but also to strip away educational and economic opportunities for Black, brown, and low-income students and to erode good jobs for Black, brown, and working-class educators. Public universities, public schools, and unions have long been imperfect yet critical institutions for advancing racial and gender equity and expanding opportunity. It is precisely because of that role that they now face some of the harshest and most intertwined attacks. Protecting worker power and advancing equity are intersecting goals, and both are essential to building better schools, and a thriving economy, that serves all communities.