More than 50 Michigan school districts have skirted the right-to-work law that took effect in the state last month by rushing into contracts extending teachers’ obligation to pay union dues for the next several years, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has found.

The right-to-work law passed in December but didn’t take effect until March 28, giving unions several months to lock districts into new contracts lasting anywhere from two to 10 years, the Michigan-based think tank said. Under the contracts signed in that time period, teachers are required to keep paying union dues, even if they do not want to be part of the union.

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