Rhode Island’s citizenry won a major, precedent-setting victory in court the other day. Superior Court Judge Bennett Gallo ruled that there are basic management rights that simply cannot be negotiated away to the teachers unions.

The case centered on Exeter-West Greenwich schools’ creation of a new Department of Fine Arts, responsible for art and music education for grades 7-12. The Exeter-West Greenwich Education Association, tied to the National Education Association, protested, saying that the school district was barred from creating such a department without the union’s permission, even though a union official conceded under oath that the new department was a good idea.

Incredibly (or maybe not so incredibly, given the way such hearings often go in the Ocean State), an arbitrator ruled for the union. The district’s labor lawyer, Vincent Ragosta, then took the matter up in Superior Court, arguing that “the union was holding the school district hostage.”

In a thoughtful, well-argued opinion, Judge Gallo ruled that no contract can give a union veto power over decisions of a school board that govern the “essence of the educational mission.”

That was not only a victory for the school committee and Mr. Ragosta but for the citizens of Rhode Island in general.

Since taxpayers pay the freight, and created the schools in the first place to benefit young people, citizens should have the ultimate say in how their public schools are run. In most communities, they do so by electing representatives to their local school committees to set policy. It’s called representative democracy. (Providence is an exception: The mayor appoints the school board.)

Union leaders should not be dictating education policy, even if they can pressure weak-willed board members during contract negotiations to give away essential management rights. Nor should a union arbitrator be empowered to veto new approaches that help students.

Rhode Island’s public schools have some of the highest per-student costs in America and yet generally perform in a mediocre way (with some heartening exceptions). A re-emphasis on serving the students, and letting managers actually manage the schools, seems long overdue.

Citizens should be grateful that Judge Gallo recognized that the law is on their side. While teachers unions have every right to fight for the interests of their members, there are some aspects of public education that they have no business controlling.