The Political Cost of Opposing School Choice
It was a shocking development in Pennsylvania politics. Democratic party candidate for governor, Josh Shapiro, despite holding a comfortable lead in polling over his Republican opponent, shook up the political landscape when he publicly issued his support for school choice.
If you aren’t familiar with Pennsylvania politics, Democratic governors have long cozied up to public school special interests, which are often sworn enemies of school choice initiatives, such as vouchers and charter schools. Now the governor-elect, Shapiro’s approach is a stark contrast to his Democratic predecessor, Tom Wolf.
In eight years, Wolf became the only governor never to visit a charter school. Pennsylvania’s largest public union representing teachers, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), gave Wolf $1.5 million for his re-election campaign on top of the $865,000 they already had given him.
In his second term, Wolf proposed a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to severely restrict charter schools. Shapiro also benefited greatly from PSEA’s generosity, receiving over a half-million dollars, but it didn’t stop him from supporting parents. We’re thankful for his political courage.
Shapiro said: “I think we can invest in public education and empower parents to put their kids in the best opportunity for them to succeed, and I don’t think we have to harm public schools in the process. It’s what I believe.”
For years, public schools and teachers unions told state lawmakers they could do online schooling better and cheaper than virtual charter schools. But as parents across America learned during the coronavirus lockdowns, school districts performed far worse and cost much more.
Parents’ frustration created a wave of advocacy in support of school choice, and their voices were heard on Election Day in 2021 and now 2022. Governors were elected who supported parents and their right, as Shapiro said, to put their kids in the best position to succeed.
We first saw this happen last year in Virginia when Republican Glenn Youngkin surged to a late victory after his heavily favored opponent, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, quipped during a debate: "I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
Big mistake, Terry. McAuliffe lost, and in Virginia’s latest budget, Youngkin saved the state’s school choice program by eliminating drastic cuts.
Less than a year after Youngkin’s victory, Florida Democrat Charlie Crist selected the president of the Miami teachers union as his running mate. His opponent, a staunch supporter of school choice, Republican Ron DeSantis, won by historic margins in areas that are typically Democratic strongholds, including Miami.
A previous opponent of school choice, Illinois Democratic incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker won re-election in part because he changed his stance to support his state’s school choice program.
Republican candidates for governor and school choice champions Greg Abbott of Texas, Bill Lee of Tennessee, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire all won convincing victories. Reynolds even worked to defeat five Republican state legislators for opposing her program to create education savings accounts for families.
As we celebrate #ITrustParents Week this week, let’s hope more legislators and governors begin to understand that times have changed. The voters have spoken. Loudly. They want their elected leaders to trust parents. After all, we know what’s best for our children.
