was originally reported by Barbara Rodriguez of . .

Although a majority of Americans are confident that childhood vaccines are highly effective against serious illness, Republicans鈥� trust in vaccine safety and support of school requirements is dropping, .

Sixty-three percent of Americans are extremely or very confident in the effectiveness of childhood vaccines, according to a survey published Tuesday. But Democrats and those who lean Democrat are much more likely than Republicans and Republican-leaners to hold that view 鈥� 80 percent versus 48 percent.

And while the majority of Americans believe in the safety of vaccines 鈥� 53 percent believe childhood vaccines have been tested enough for safety and 51 percent agree that the is safe 鈥� there is significantly more uncertainty among Republicans. For Democrats, 74 percent show high confidence in the safety testing of vaccines and 71 percent believe the childhood vaccine schedule is safe. For Republicans, those numbers are 35 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

鈥淏oth things can be true, that people believe in vaccines鈥� effectiveness overall and the confidence is a little softer on safety,鈥� said Eileen Yam, director of science and society research at Pew who was part of the primary research team. 鈥淏ut writ large, that’s been pretty stable to see confidence in vaccines. But at the same time, when it comes to things like school requirements, or 鈥榯elling me what to do,鈥� or requiring me to do something 鈥� that’s where you see the bristling on the Republican side.鈥�

Americans have become more skeptical of requiring that children get the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to attend public school. Sixty-nine percent support it, a decline from 82 percent in 2016. Most of the drop can be attributed to Republicans 鈥� with just 52 percent believing in the requirement, compared to 79 percent in 2016. For Democrats, that support was 83 percent in 2016 and actually climbed to 86 percent this year.

This all comes amid that started in Texas and . And while students are required in each state to get the MMR vaccine to attend public school, have indicated a willingness to drop that requirement.

Pew found broad and consistent support for the MMR vaccine: 84 percent believe its benefits outweigh its risks (). When Pew first started asking about this in 2016, support was at 88 percent. Yam said the findings show some agreement on the benefits of the MMR vaccine. While 92 percent of Democrats believe the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, 78 percent of Republicans do, too.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist who has that helps decide vaccine policy, . He has the backing of President Donald Trump, .

Pew surveyed parents and found a majority with minor children (57 percent) say they are extremely or very confident in childhood vaccines鈥� effectiveness. Republican parents are far less likely than Democratic parents to have that confidence (45 percent versus 71 percent), belief in safety testing (29 percent versus 63 percent) and the childhood vaccine schedule (27 percent versus 58 percent).

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say medical scientists should have a major role in decisions about childhood vaccines (85 percent vs. 62 percent). There are more partisan fissures on the role of parents: 71 percent of Republicans say that parents of young children should have a major role in policy decisions about childhood vaccines. For Democrats, it鈥檚 46 percent.

鈥淭hat speaks to just a divergence in trust in science that we’ve been tracking since before the pandemic,鈥� Yam said. 鈥淛ust Republicans since the pandemic, their confidence in scientists, the way they look at the CDC has just dropped off much more than on the Democrat side. Democrats have had fairly stable views on scientists and on the CDC, in contrast to Republicans.鈥�

Pew also examined how have influenced Americans鈥� decisions around getting a COVID-19 shot. The agency recently agreed with Kennedy鈥檚 new vaccine panel to stop recommending the shot to everyone and to instead leave the choice up to people. Forty-four percent say they have heard nothing at all about the CDC鈥檚 changes to recommendations. Among those who have heard at least a little, 63 percent say it has had no influence on whether they got an updated vaccine.

鈥淭he one big takeaway there is that policies really can’t influence behaviors if people haven’t heard about the policies or the recommendations,鈥� Yam said. 鈥淎nd in this case, a lot of people haven’t heard about it, and some when they have, their minds were made up. They’ve already kind of decided, and it really didn’t influence their behavior one way or the other.鈥�

This was originally published on .

Chalkbeat Ideas is a new section featuring reported columns on the big ideas and debates shaping American schools. to follow our work.

Democrats are in disarray on education 鈥� according to a growing chorus of Democrats.

A variety of left-leaning , , and have all recently claimed that voters have become disillusioned with the party鈥檚 approach to schools. Often, these commentators cite anger over pandemic-era closures and argue that Democrats need to embrace tougher academic standards or school choice.

鈥淔or decades, when pollsters asked voters which party they trusted more on education, Democrats maintained, on average, a 14-point advantage. More recently that gap closed, then flipped to favor Republicans,鈥� former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel last month.

Is this emerging conventional wisdom true, though? This assertion has typically relied on one or two surveys, rather than a comprehensive look at the data. So I compiled all publicly available polls I could find that asked voters which party they preferred on education.

The verdict was clear: In more than a dozen surveys conducted this year by eight different organizations, all but one showed Democrats with an edge on education. This ranged from 4 to 15 points. Among all 14 polls, the median advantage was 9 points. Although Democrats appear to have briefly lost this edge a few years ago, voters again now tend to trust Democrats on the issue of education, broadly defined.

The narrative that Republicans had wrested the issue of education from Democrats emerged in 2021, after Virginia鈥檚 Glenn Youngkin won a in the governor鈥檚 race after campaigning on parents鈥� rights.

Long-running the Winston Group, a political consulting firm, showed that in late 2021 and early 2022 Republicans really had eroded Democrats鈥� lead on education. The parties were even briefly tied for the first time since the early 2000s, when former President George W. Bush was championing No Child Left Behind. Polling commissioned in and by Democrats for Education Reform, a group that backs charter schools and vouchers, also showed Democrats falling behind on education.

Since then, though, Democrats appear to have regained their edge. In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, the party held at least a 10-point lead, according to Winston Group. Other from last year found that more voters preferred Democrats鈥� approach on education, even as the party lost the presidency.

Emanuel pointed me to polling from 2022. 鈥淒emocrats have not gained ground as much as Trump has cost GOP gains they have made,鈥� he says when asked about the more recent surveys.

This year in Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger easily won in her bid to replace Youngkin. Education was one of her stronger issues, according to a

Some argue that these disprove the idea that Democrats are losing on schools. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not what panned out at all,鈥� says Jennifer Berkshire, a progressive author who writes and teaches about education. She notes that the Republican governor candidate in New Jersey to make schools an issue and lost badly.

The Winston poll shows Democrats鈥� advantage is currently below its peak between 2006 and 2009 but is comparable to many other periods, including the tail end of the Obama administration and part of the first Trump administration.

Keep in mind: These surveys ask about education broadly, not just K-12 schools. When given the option, a good chunk of voters don鈥檛 endorse either party鈥檚 approach. For instance, a YouGov found Democrats up 39%-32% on education with another 29% saying they weren鈥檛 sure or that the parties were about the same.

The one public in which Democrats did not have an advantage came from Blue Rose Research, a Democratic-aligned firm. Ali Mortell, its head of research, says different survey methodologies can lead to different results.

Regardless, she wants to see Democratic politicians lean into the issue more. 鈥淪ay they do have that trust advantage right now, [education] is still not something that they鈥檙e really talking about a lot,鈥� Mortell says.

One of the top messages that resonates with voters focuses on addressing teachers鈥� concerns about stagnant pay and large class sizes, Blue Rose polling finds.

Democrats鈥� lead on education doesn鈥檛 appear to have grown much over the last year, according to surveys from Winston, YouGov, and Ipsos. That鈥檚 somewhat surprising since Trump鈥檚 approval has sunk generally and is low on education .

Jorge Elorza, the CEO of Democrats for Education Reform, points to it commissioned showing the two parties tied when it comes to making sure schools emphasize academic achievement. 鈥淒emocrats should be focused on delivering results,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen we ask voters about that, it鈥檚 a toss up.鈥� A separate DFER found the party with only a 1-point lead on who voters trust to ensure 鈥渟tudents are prepared for success after high school.鈥�

Democrats鈥� overall polling advantage on education does not necessarily speak to the substantive merits of their policies, however. One found that Democratic-leaning states have seen bigger declines in student test scores in recent years. At a national level, Democrats have a particularly clear message on K-12 education, unlike Trump.

鈥淔or the last six years there鈥檚 [been] no proactive agenda for Democrats on educational excellence,鈥� says Emanuel.

The party鈥檚 approach to schools has clearly lost a segment of America鈥檚 political tastemakers including center-left nonprofit executives, political strategists, and even some Democratic politicians. Yet, despite insistent assertions otherwise, regular voters don鈥檛 seem to share this view, at least at the moment.

I relied on the following polls from this year, with Democrats鈥� lead in parentheses: Blue Rose Research (, tied); Fox News ( +15); Ipsos ( +6, +4, +7); Napolitan News Service ( +9, +6); Navigator ( +9); Strength in Numbers ( +11, +15); YouGov ( +7); Winston ( +15, +14, +11). To find these surveys, I conducted my own search and asked a variety of large pollsters, as well as a number of advocates. Differences in results between polls can come from random error, as well as differences in sampling and question wording. Although the precise wording varied, each poll asked voters which party they preferred on education.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Many discovered their children were better suited for learning outside traditional schools and stuck with it. Others said schools were pushing and wanted to teach their own values. These parents help to explain why homeschooling during the pandemic and shows no sign of retreating to pre-COVID rates.

But that doesn鈥檛 mean those families have completely left public schools behind, according to the latest data from researchers at Johns Hopkins University.  More than a third of families with at least one homeschooled child also have a student enrolled in a traditional district school. Another 9% of homeschoolers have a child in a charter.

Angela Watson, an assistant professor and director of the university鈥檚 Homeschool Research Lab, called a 鈥渂ig deal.鈥� 

The data is 鈥渆vidence that there鈥檚 not this rejection of public schooling that people frame it as,鈥� she said. She doesn鈥檛 know whether  many families were 鈥渕ixing鈥� different forms of education before the pandemic. 鈥淭o my knowledge, no one has thought to ask this question before. Folks just assumed homeschool families were homeschool families.鈥� 

As more families choose to educate their children at home, Watson鈥檚 post-COVID analysis of responses from nearly 3,200 parents reflects the within the population. Less than half of homeschoolers identify as Republicans, whereas, , this group outnumbered Democrats 3 to 1. A quarter say they are politically liberal, and a third say they never attend religious services. That鈥檚 a big shift from 2012, when of parents said imparting their religious beliefs to their children was a primary reason for homeschooling.

鈥淭hat really changes the conversation for Democrats to see how diverse this group is,鈥� Watson said. 

Families often turn to homeschooling after struggling to get adequate services in the public system for children with disabilities. Education savings accounts 鈥� public funds that pay for private school tuition or homeschooling costs 鈥� have made that decision even easier. 

Angela Faber pulled her youngest child, who has autism, out of the Deer Valley Unified School District, near Phoenix, during the pandemic. Remote learning had allowed Faber to see up close the extent of her daughter鈥檚 delays. She was in fourth grade, but reading at a kindergarten level and getting just 30 minutes of extra help each week.  

With state funds, her daughter now learns at home with a private teacher and receives horseback riding therapy, which helps with balance, coordination and focus. 

But she鈥檚 sometimes envious of her older sister, who attends what Faber described as a 鈥減retty darn liberal鈥� charter school and manages a hectic extracurricular schedule. As a basketball player, she鈥檚 out the door some mornings at 6 a.m. and not back until after dark.

鈥淭he youngest is like 鈥業 want to go to school and play all these sports.鈥� But she just doesn’t like people and she knows that,鈥� Faber said. 鈥淚 don’t know any family that really has kids who learn the same way.鈥�

鈥楴ot a fit for all situations鈥�

One complication for families juggling the mix is that the rhythms of homeschooling and public school don鈥檛 necessarily mesh. 

When Audria Ausbern, from the west Texas town of Tahoka, homeschooled her two sons, the family used to avoid vacation crowds by scheduling trips after public schools started in the fall. That鈥檚 what they did in 2019 when Talon, their oldest, insisted they visit Boston, the site of the of 1919. He learned about the bizarre event from the 鈥淚 Survived鈥� of books.

For five years, they took off in their RV whenever they wanted, with excursions to the Pacific Northwest, Florida, and Minnesota, where they biked the Grand Marais trail. But once Talon entered public school in 2022, they had to plan their adventures around the school calendar. At 6-foot-6, he wanted to play high school basketball and get used to the dynamics of a typical classroom so he鈥檇 be better prepared for college.

The transition came with hiccups. The school didn鈥檛 accept all of his credits 鈥� like sign language for a foreign language 鈥� and he had to take an extra science class, Ausbern said. The counselor wasn鈥檛 pleased that Talon didn鈥檛 take social studies courses in the same order as district kids, and she required him to double up on English when she decided his at-home curriculum didn鈥檛 include enough paperwork.

鈥淪ince English is Talon’s weaker subject, and he had room in his schedule, we decided not to fight the issue,鈥� his mother said. 

Now Weston, his younger brother, is weighing whether he too will spend his senior year in a public school.

Homeschooling 鈥渋s not a fit for all situations,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd we had some great experiences with public education.鈥�

In the future, families鈥� preferences may even change 鈥測ear by year,鈥� said Jeremy Newman, vice president of policy and engagement at the Texas Home School Coalition, an advocacy group. 

鈥淚t’s not the case anymore that the average student is going to one form of education for their whole K-12 education,鈥� he said. That doesn鈥檛 mean, however, that the 鈥渘atural suspicion鈥� some homeschoolers have toward the public system is gone, he said. 鈥淚t was just like 30, 40 years ago when states were trying to prosecute homeschoolers just for homeschooling.鈥� 

Two attorneys the Home School Legal Defense Association in 1983 for that reason, and the organization still fights legal challenges today. For example, a bill proposed in Illinois in this year鈥檚 session recently reignited parents鈥� mistrust toward the government.

The Democratic-backed would have required parents to have a high school diploma to homeschool and to alert their local district if they intended to do so. Sponsors said they want to ensure children are safe and learning, but families and have . 

Kevin Boden, an attorney with the association, thinks the growing racial, economic, cultural and diversity of homeschoolers is one reason why the legislation died this year. While he spends his time protecting parents鈥� right to educate their children at home, he said he鈥檚 not surprised that so many families also have a child in public school. 

鈥業 needed help鈥�

Aime茅 Fletcher, a Nashville-area mom, took remote learning during COVID as a chance to rethink how her children were being educated. After the pandemic, she put her two sons, Noah and Nash, in private school. Now homeschooled, they follow a Bible-themed curriculum with a study group two days a week and spend the rest completing assignments on the couch or at the dining room table. The flexibility allows Noah, a sophomore this fall, time to paint, teach himself guitar and work part-time at a local farm.

鈥淏oth boys seem to have settled and are thriving in the homeschool environment,鈥� she said. 

Their sister Sara has very different needs, which for now, Fletcher thinks the public schools are in the best position to meet. Adopted from Colombia, the rising fifth grader has cerebral palsy, was orphaned and didn鈥檛 know English when she arrived in 2020. With her learning still delayed, she depends on more than 1,000 minutes a week of one-on-one and small group support in reading and math.

A homeschool advocate who works for a conservative nonprofit, Fletcher tried to teach Sara letters and numbers. But she determined that enrolling her at Amanda North Elementary, in the Williamson County district, was the best option.

鈥淚 needed help and I still do, honestly,鈥� Fletcher said. 鈥淗er story is different from my boys, and so is her schooling.鈥�

Among the biggest wins of her tenure, she counts increases in charter funding and twice electing Democrat and school reformer Gov. Jared Polis as governor. After serving as chief of staff for the Denver Public Schools, she fully expected to finish her career at DFER.

鈥淲e worked hard to build power in the Democratic Party specifically around accountability, choice and the role of public charter schools,鈥� she said. 鈥淓verything had always been grounded 100% in public education.鈥�

But last year, she said she 鈥渟aw the writing on the wall鈥� when the organization鈥檚 leader embraced Education Savings Accounts and other forms of private school choice. She is among several who have since left the group over the issue.

In a , DFER CEO Jorge Elorza, former two-term mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, suggested that instead of 鈥渞ejecting them offhand,鈥� his party should explore how ESAs can advance Democratic values like uplifting needy families and protecting civil rights. Eighteen Republican-led states now have such programs, which parents can use for private school tuition or homeschooling. Most Democrats say vouchers and ESAs lack accountability and threaten funding for public schools.

To Alisha Searcy, who just last year, Elorza鈥檚 about-face felt like a betrayal. 

鈥淒FER has done extraordinary work to get courageous Democrats elected to push bold policies that would truly improve public education,鈥� said the former Georgia state legislator. She was hired last year to expand the organization鈥檚 reach into her state, Alabama and Tennessee, but resigned in May. 鈥淲e need a strong Democratic voice, now more than ever. This move to embrace vouchers and ESAs is the exact opposite.鈥� 

The issue has brought bubbling to the surface a debate that was previously restricted to Democratic backrooms. Elorza took the helm of DFER at a time when polls began to show that voters were losing confidence in Democrats as the party they most trusted on education. Parents, the surveys suggested, were more preoccupied with whether their kids were recovering from pandemic learning loss than how schools were teaching issues of race or gender in the classroom. The only intensified in the aftermath of President Donald Trump鈥檚 election.

Founded in 2007, DFER always advocated for . Leaders worked with the Obama administration and reform-minded Democrats to support like magnet schools, dual enrollment and lifting state . Now, Republicans and their push for parental rights are dominating the education conversation, including a recent to enact a national tax credit for private school choice. Elorza is among those who say the party needs to be open to more options for families if it’s going to regain its edge with voters, especially parents. But he recognizes the risks.

鈥淭here are a lot of Democrats who are choice curious,鈥� he told 社区黑料. 鈥淭hey’ll say privately that they’re open to the idea of choice, including private school choice, but that the politics of it are just so darn challenging.鈥�

In a , he pointed to Pennsylvania as the best opportunity for a swing state to pass an ESA program. Democratic came close to supporting such a bill in 2023.

Some observers say Shapiro and Elorza are outliers in the party. During the Obama years, DFER 鈥渘udged鈥� the party toward school reform policies like and maintaining strong, said David Houston, an assistant education professor at George Mason University in Virginia. But now it鈥檚 鈥渇urther from the center of Democratic politics.鈥�

The recent departure of other DFER staff offers further evidence that Elorza鈥檚 position doesn鈥檛 reflect the Democratic mainstream.

Will Andras served as political director in Colorado for Education Reform Now, a think tank affiliated with DFER that Elorza also leads. Andras left last year, shortly after DFER joined the , a group of organizations that advocate for open enrollment and removing school attendance boundaries. 

The member organizations, funded largely by the conservative Koch network, also support vouchers and ESAs. In his resignation letter, Andras referenced the change in direction since Elorza came on board in 2023. 

鈥淭he last six months have shown that the organization I have devoted a substantial portion of my professional career to help build no longer aligns with my political or personal values,鈥� he wrote.

Jessica Giles, who led the D.C. chapter, similar words when she walked away in May. It鈥檚 one of several chapters to close since Elorza became CEO. The Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts and DFER South chapters have also shut down. 

Elorza said he respects their stance.

鈥淭here are a lot of folks who put a great deal of stock into this public-private distinction, and I think it comes from a principled place,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I truly believe that it is in the party鈥檚 political best interest to be open minded to any approach that moves the needle for kids and families.鈥�

鈥楶olitical winds are shifting鈥� 

Backed by , the private school choice movement has been on a winning streak since 2022, when Arizona passed the first universal ESA.

鈥淭he political winds are shifting,鈥� Corey DeAngelis, a self-described 鈥渟chool choice evangelist鈥� and fellow at multiple think tanks, said at a conference in Atlanta in April. 鈥淚f Democrats are smart, they鈥檒l stop the Republicans from being able to pick up the football and win on this issue.鈥�

He pointed to Louisiana, where six House Democrats 鈥� one-fifth of the party鈥檚 caucus 鈥� for the LA GATOR Scholarship, an ESA that starts this fall. One of them, Rep. Jason Hughes, passionately defended his vote on the House floor. 

鈥淎s I watch children in poverty, trapped in failing schools, who can hardly read, I’ll be damned if I will continue to defend the status quo,鈥� he said. 

Rep. Marlene Terry, a Missouri Democrat, delivered an equally heartfelt speech in May after caucus leaders when she supported a $50 million increase to the state鈥檚 ESA program. 

鈥淚 will vote how I please, when I please and where I please,鈥� she said. 鈥淣o one can take away my voice. I will not be silent.鈥�

While her own children attended public school, she said families in the St. Louis-area district she represents are frustrated that their schools have for 15 years. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a long time for families to wait for improvement,鈥� Terry told 社区黑料. Riverview Gardens, a majority Black, high-poverty district, regained local control from the state in 2023, but leaders are still working to make continued gains in . 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I support giving families a range of high-quality public options, including public charter schools, and 鈥� when absolutely necessary 鈥� scholarships to attend other schools if no viable public options exist.鈥�

Some Democrats agree with Elorza that the party shouldn鈥檛 distance legislators like Terry. In a , Virginia Board of Education Member Andy Rotherham, who served in the Clinton White House and co-founded Bellwether, a think tank, said Democrats need to welcome 鈥渁 much wider range of perspectives on these questions,鈥� given school choice鈥檚 surge in popularity since the pandemic.

鈥淭his is America 鈥� we like choice,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淏eing on the wrong side of that culturally and politically is not a great place to be.鈥�

鈥楽olidly entrenched鈥� 

Using an ESA can be particularly uncomfortable for a lifelong Democrat 鈥� especially In Arizona, where Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has called the program a 鈥溾�� and wants to on families using it. Kathy Visser, who administers a ESA Facebook group for parents and vendors, knows some who left the forum because they felt that it was 鈥渘ot a safe space for Democrats.鈥� 

鈥淚 hate election time because it’s always a mess in the group,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople think we should be able to talk about ESAs without talking about politics, but when you’ve got one party so solidly entrenched against it, it’s really hard.鈥� 

Some Democrats who use ESAs say they hold their noses when it comes to other aspects of the Republican agenda. 

Christina Foster, whose daughter has used an ESA in the past, said she gets 鈥渉eart palpitations鈥� when she has to decide on a candidate. She鈥檚 board chair for Arizona鈥檚 , which runs microschools serving students using ESAs, and wants to protect the program. But in the 2024 election, she voted for Democrats. 

鈥淪ome of those Republicans were not supportive of minority rights, immigration rights, women鈥檚 rights. Those are very important to me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 said 鈥極K, unfortunately, I’m going to have to vote against the ESA.鈥�

For those within the traditional K-12 system, the choice to use an ESA can be tricky. As a kindergarten teacher in Arizona鈥檚 Peoria district, Melanie Ford is familiar with about how the program undermines funding for traditional schools and is susceptible to waste and fraud. 

But she overlooked those arguments when public school no longer seemed like a safe place for her transgender son Ash. He avoided using the bathroom all day because students said he didn鈥檛 belong in the boys鈥� or the girls鈥� restroom.

For the 2023-24 school year, Ash used an ESA to attend the , a microschool for middle schoolers in Phoenix that incorporates into the curriculum. Ford told her colleagues that despite her support of public schools, she had to think first about her son. Ash has since returned to a public high school, where he plays on a drumline in the marching band and has straight A鈥檚, his mother said. But using the ESA allowed him to transition in a more supportive setting.

鈥淗e didn鈥檛 have to deal with the comments from peers that slowly rip a person apart from the inside out,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e could grow into himself without judgement from others and this was so important for his mental health.鈥�

While some Democrats, as Elorza suggested, may think an ESA is the best option for their children, that interest hasn鈥檛 risen to the national level. No Congressional Democrats, for example, have endorsed the federal Educational Choice for Children Act, the tax credit scholarship program tucked into the Republicans鈥� reconciliation bill.

In some states, vouchers remain unpopular, said Joshua Cowen, an education professor at Michigan State University and a strong opponent of directing public funds to private schools. 

He points to Kentucky, where a private school choice measure last November. Coloradans also defeated a school choice-related , and voters in Nebraska .

While the Democratic party may embrace vouchers in the future, that day is a long way off, said Ravi Gupta, a former Obama staffer who runs a nonprofit media company. On an intellectual level, he鈥檚 intrigued by ESAs. Democrats, he said, would never say Medicaid should only be used at a public hospital or Section 8 vouchers only in a housing project, so why doesn鈥檛 the same principle apply to education? 

鈥淭wenty years from now, do I think that could be the reality?鈥� he asked. 鈥淚 think it’s very likely, but it will take some time.鈥�

Disclosure: The Charles Koch Foundation funds Stand Together Trust, which provides funding to 社区黑料. Andy Rotherham sits on 社区黑料鈥檚 board of directors. 

Normally, Virginia is the interesting off-year gubernatorial election, and New Jersey is pretty boring.

But not this year.

One reason is that Virginia has trended bluer across the last few presidential cycles, while New Jersey has gone in the other direction. Kamala Harris got a slightly higher share of the vote in the Old Dominion than in , which is a sign of a new era. Plus, Virginia Democrats have an uncontested primary, and the nomination is going to Abigail Spanberger, a sensible moderate Democrat who seems perfectly suited to winning the state. Virginia currently has a Republican governor, so the state鈥檚 soft Democrats don鈥檛 have to worry about any backlash. And not only is the president a Republican, he鈥檚 hammering the state with layoffs. Unless Spanberger screws up, she should win.

Virginia鈥檚 race is also not that interesting from a governance perspective. Even though Virginia is now pretty solidly blue, the Democratic Party has rarely held a trifecta, so the policy status quo is pretty clearly to the right of the electorate. Being a smart moderate Democrat in Virginia basically just means supporting the reasonable, politically viable progressive ideas and not the crazy ones, which requires good sense but not a ton of tough decision-making.

New Jersey is different.

The state is still solidly blue, and you鈥檇 expect the Democratic nominee to win, especially with Trump in office. But New Jersey Democrats face meaningful political headwinds, and if Kamala Harris were in office, they might be at real risk.

The question of what to do as governor of the state is also trickier. Phil Murphy is wrapping up his second term, and Democrats controlled the state legislature for both terms. A same-party successor always has a tougher job in a situation like this, because the low-hanging fruit of the Democratic agenda has already been picked. New Jersey has a minimum wage of $15.49, indexed to inflation. They have legal marijuana. They have a generous Medicaid program. New Jersey has the , according to the Tax Foundation鈥檚 rankings. It鈥檚 less obvious what the next Democratic governor is going to do here than in Virginia.

And the field is large, with six primary candidates running.

There are good choices in the mix. Mikie Sherrill is a smart, pragmatic member of Congress who鈥檚 and seems to be leading the pack. Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, is a YIMBY champion who has walked the walk in a major way. Josh Gottheimer, another House member, is not my personal flavor of moderate, but he鈥檚 got support from colleagues like Ritchie Torres, Tom Suozzi, and Jared Golden, who I respect a lot. I feel torn between Sherrill and Fulop, but honestly, it鈥檚 an embarrassment of riches to have a field where Gottheimer is my No. 3 choice.

Another of the candidates is Sean Spiller, president of the New Jersey Education Association 鈥� i.e. the state鈥檚 teachers union. The New York Times recently had a piece on how unusual this situation is, with and rendering the polite myth of non-coordination between campaigns and super PACs unusually untenable.

What the Times didn鈥檛 talk about, though, was the part that I find genuinely odd, which is that nobody in the crowded field is taking the opportunity to smartly differentiate themselves on education.

Democrats often seem reluctant to propose ideas that teachers unions don鈥檛 like, because they want their support (or at least non-hostility) in a primary. But I鈥檓 pretty sure the NJEA is going to back Spiller no matter what Sherrill or Gottheimer or Fulop say, so why not be bolder?

Democrats could use fresh thinking on education

As , one of the most underrated developments in recent political history is that Democrats have lost their traditionally large issue advantage on education.

I think it鈥檚 also worth noting that voters rate education as a pretty important issue 鈥� more important than the issues related to climate change, abortion and child care that have dominated the progressive agenda in recent years.

The other thing about education is that while of course Democrats can鈥檛, and shouldn鈥檛, give up on trying to come up with smart, politically appealing things to say about immigration and crime, those are longstanding areas of GOP issue advantage.

Fundamentally, voters want 鈥渢ough鈥� policies on these issues. , the number of people who said the criminal justice system is not tough enough outnumbered those who said it was too tough by a 2:1 ratio, and mass opinion was more right-wing than that in every year both before and after 2020. And Democrats are just not the party that鈥檚 seen as 鈥渢ough.鈥� 

Education, though, is a classic liberal issue, like health care. The hard part for Democrats should be persuading the public to care more about education than about immigration, not convincing them that Democrats can be trusted to handle education policy.

That loss of trust is multi-faceted, but I think it has to do not only with pandemic school closures per se, but with a larger vibe around school closures whereby Democrats started signaling that they don鈥檛 really think education is particularly important.

The prior cohort of Democrats wildly overpromised on education as a , which unfortunately led the party to completely . This was a mistake, because the evidence is overwhelming that .

Good schools don鈥檛 generate equal outcomes for everyone, because students differ in their innate abilities and their life circumstances. But good schools still generate better outcomes than we鈥檇 see without good schools. And while I believe in , we don鈥檛 face a sharp tradeoff at a systems level. During the era when education policy was overwhelmingly focused on low-end performance, students did better across the board. In the more recent era, low-end performance has declined precipitously and the performance of the top students is essentially flat.

Weaker students and students from poorer families are, in practice, the canaries in the coal mine, because they鈥檙e the ones who really depend on public policy rather than parental supplementation. But there鈥檚 clearly a problem here, and Democrats should re-engage, because I think there are some pretty obvious ways to make things better:

• Make sure advanced coursework is fair with , but don鈥檛 eliminate it in a misguided push for equality.
  
• : Raise entry-level pay, reduce regulatory barriers to entry, stop giving raises for low-value credentials, start giving raises to above-average teachers (and even bigger raises to above-average teachers who are willing to work in tough schools) and reduce job security for the weakest performers.
  
• Allow (indeed, encourage) the , while shutting down the least-effective ones.

More abstractly, though, I would love to see a return to the Obama-style message that education is important 鈥� certainly too important to trust to Republicans, who don鈥檛 care and just want to cut and privatize everything, but also too important to spend money on without asking about results.

A disappointing Garden State discourse

On education, the candidates I like in New Jersey are 鈥� fine.

Fulop, as a housing-forward candidate, is :

Despite being the most diverse state in the country, New Jersey has the dubious distinction of having some of the most segregated schools in the country. The next governor needs to address this issue head-on as a 鈥渇air & efficient education鈥� includes diversity. In Year 1, Gov. Fulop will impanel an independent board of educators, activists and state leaders tasked with producing a comprehensive, statewide plan to address segregation, including economic and social factors.

I agree with him that this is important and that it鈥檚 a noteworthy aspect of the New Jersey status quo. But an expert panel is going to tell him what he already knows, namely that school segregation is largely downstream of housing market dynamics. And Fulop knows the score on housing. But if anything, I think this linkage just goes to show that YIMBYs need to think more about K-12 education. The vast majority of anti-YIMBY arguments are nonsense. But a clearly true fact is that if more people lived in your town, some of them would send kids to your town鈥檚 public schools.

If the school system does a good job, this is a pure logistics issue 鈥� more students requires more classrooms and more buildings. But a lot of suburban Americans are relying on socioeconomic segregation as their de facto education policy.

Democrats in particular often seem more comfortable zoning low-income families out of whole communities than they do guaranteeing that schools will have reasonable discipline policies, ability-appropriate math coursework and . New Jersey needs better housing policy, but to get there, state officials need to take these questions of functioning public services seriously.

:

Across New Jersey, students in every district continue to face post-pandemic struggles with mental health and learning loss. That鈥檚 why I fought to bring back federal funding to safely reopen schools and get kids back on track, including by introducing legislation to provide high-quality tutoring to students. As governor, we鈥檒l expand on this progress by supporting effective programs 鈥� like high-impact tutoring 鈥� that address learning loss. We鈥檒l address the mental health crisis by increasing the number of school counselors, psychologists and mental health services in our schools. And as a mom of four, I know that kids learn better when their stomachs are full. I will make school meals available at no cost for every student in New Jersey because we know good nutrition is essential to academic achievement.

If a candidate asked me for a bunch of K-12 education ideas that make sense on the merits but won鈥檛 provoke any clashes with unions or the progressive education establishment, this list is basically what I鈥檇 give them.

But thinking about it seriously, if we鈥檙e talking about learning loss (and we should be), shouldn鈥檛 we be talking about the old education reform standbys of standards and accountability? High-dosage tutoring is a good idea, but it鈥檚 weird to put all the responsibilities for improving outcomes on tutors rather than everything else that happens in school buildings. More mental health inputs sounds like a good idea, but are we going to measure the outputs? We know that across the board in education, more inputs usually help. But just adding inputs is no substitute for measuring outcomes.

The centerpiece of Gottheimer鈥檚 whole campaign is that he wants to cut taxes and largely pay for it with government efficiency undertakings. He can鈥檛 do that without taking on some entrenched interests, and K-12 education is obviously one of the biggest line items. 鈥淐ut wasteful school spending so you can cut taxes鈥� is not my favorite brand of moderation (I would rather reinvest the money in making schools better), but it鈥檚 not an unreasonable idea. Again, though, Gottheimer doesn鈥檛 call out any specific education changes or cross any union red lines.

If not now, when?

The education reform spirit is not entirely dead within the Democratic Party.

Recently, Senators Cory Booker (whose star is back on the rise thanks to his talking filibuster), Brian Schatz (a leading contender to succeed Chuck Schumer) and Michael Bennet (who鈥檚 running for governor of Colorado) were the Democratic sponsors of a . Both and have made friendly visits to charter schools in the terrain they represent 鈥� they鈥檙e not wild ideologues on this issue or, as far as I can tell, any other. But the sense that it鈥檚 cool to occasionally be at odds with teachers unions has definitely vanished.

In the 2016 primary, Hillary Clinton broke with Barack Obama on education reform to , and Sanders lacked the creativity or ideological flexibility to make lemonade and present himself as more moderate than Clinton on this. In the 2020 primary cycle, , and he never really ran on it. Joe Biden seems to have sincerely disagreed with Obama about this and did not stand up for the Obama-Biden administration鈥檚 legacy on education. I thought Julian Castro, who was in the Obama cabinet, might pick up the baton, .

I was disappointed by the trajectory of education policy in both of those cycles, but I did understand what everyone was thinking.

The New Jersey gubernatorial primary, by contrast, seems like a situation where there is an objective incentive for someone to take some positions fearlessly, without regard for union politics.

For starters, it鈥檚 a six-candidate field. The , followed by Fulop at 14%, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at 12%t, Gottheimer at 11%, Spiller at 9% and former state senate leader Steve Sweeney at 8%. In a field that big, almost anything you can do to stand out from the pack can be helpful. You also don鈥檛 need to take positions that a majority of Democratic Party primary voters agree with. Of course, taking positions the general electorate finds toxic would be a bad idea, but that鈥檚 not what we鈥檙e talking about here.

And, again, to end where I began, the head of the teachers union is literally a candidate in the race. If the union is already committed to beating you, why not try to reap the upside by showing some refreshing boldness and independence of thought?

I think it was a mistake of Sanders not to seize this opportunity in 2016, but I get that he is literally Bernie Sanders, not someone who is inclined to take a heterodox position on a union issue, even if the relevant union is trying to beat him. But Fulop and Gottheimer and Sherrill are not Bernie Sanders 鈥� this seems more like passivity than ideological rigidity.

People forget that until recently, we had a lot of education reform Democrats, and it鈥檚 not as if they got knocked off in droves in primaries. The Obama legacy was abandoned at the presidential level for quirky, contingent reasons, and abandoning it hasn鈥檛 worked out well for the party. This weird Spiller ego trip is both a reminder that unions sometimes make bad calls due to weird leadership priorities and also an opportunity to assert a . You can respect public school teachers and labor unions and also understand that the job of the union is to advocate for the interests of the service providers, while the job of an elected official is to advocate for the partially overlapping interests of the people who use the services. In fact, I feel like the New Jersey field includes multiple candidates who almost certainly get this. So why not say it?

WASHINGTON 鈥� The U.S. Senate failed to advance a measure Monday night that would bar transgender students from participating on women鈥檚 school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

The bill would help codify into law President Donald Trump鈥檚 , which carries out this exact ban and threatens to rescind federal funds from 鈥渆ducational programs鈥� if schools .

The move also reflects a broader GOP-led push to enact . Across the country, an increasing number of states have passed laws banning trans students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

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The party-line 51-45 vote could not garner 60 senators to break through the legislative filibuster.

Four senators did not vote, including Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming as well as Democratic Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Peter Welch of Vermont.

Ahead of the vote, Sen. Tammy Baldwin said on the Senate floor Monday that she stood in 鈥渟trong opposition to any attempt by the federal government to meddle in decisions about who can and cannot participate in school sports.鈥�

鈥淭his is a decision for local communities, where players and parents can participate in that discussion at the local level. This is a decision for sports leagues to thoughtfully craft policy that actually takes seriously what is best for all players, not blanket mandates that will undoubtedly have unintended consequences for the safety of all students,鈥� the Wisconsin Democrat said.

Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville  in the Senate in January, and the bill gained several Republican .

鈥淭hankfully, President Trump just signed an executive order that said, 鈥楴o more 鈥� no more federal money to any state that allows this to happen,鈥� but you have to understand, this only lasts as long as President Trump鈥檚 in office, so we need this vote 鈥� to pass so we can make this into law,鈥� Tuberville said on the Senate floor before the vote.

Title IX

The bill seeks to amend Title IX so that 鈥渟ex shall be recognized based solely on a person鈥檚 reproductive biology and genetics at birth.鈥�

Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law that bars schools that receive federal funding from practicing sex-based discrimination.

Trump鈥檚 executive order asks federal agencies to interpret Title IX in a way that complies with the order.

The president鈥檚 initiative provoked complex questions about enforcement mechanisms and consequences for schools that do not comply. The administration has already launched a number of  across the .

House action

Meanwhile, the  to the Senate鈥檚 in January, which GOP Rep. Greg Steube of Florida introduced.

That measure advanced 218-206, with all House Democrats in opposition except for Texas U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez. North Carolina Democratic Rep. Don Davis voted 鈥減resent.鈥�

The , an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, noted that there has been 鈥渃onsiderable disinformation and misinformation about what the inclusion of transgender youth in sports entails鈥� and that trans students鈥� sports participation 鈥渉as been a non-issue.鈥�

At least 25 states have enacted a law that bans trans students from taking part in sports that align with their gender identity, according to the , an independent think tank.

Last updated 7:49 p.m., Mar. 3, 2025

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: info@mainemorningstar.com.

According to conducted for Fox News by , caregivers of children under the age of 18 favored Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of three percentage points in 2020. By comparison, Trump won the same group by four points over Kamala Harris 鈥� a seven-point swing in four years鈥� time. The electorate overall only moved six points rightward in the same period, meaning that parents have become warmer toward the former president than the rest of the country. ( was even more stark, indicating a nine-point Trump gain among mothers and a 20-point bounce among fathers.)

In a country where more than one-quarter of all voters are parents of school-aged kids, a shift of that scale moves millions of votes. And unlike over the last decade, it鈥檚 one that political observers have long seen coming.

Throughout the Biden administration, statistical evidence on the public鈥檚 attitudes toward K鈥�12 schools have carried ominous news for Democrats, who traditionally over Republicans on the issue of education. A 2022 conducted by Impact Research, a respected Democratic polling firm, was one of the first to find that parents in closely fought congressional districts trusted Republicans more when it came to running schools. 

Matt Hogan, a partner at Impact, said that the results were particularly striking given how well the Democratic brand has held up in other historic areas of strength. 

鈥淒emocrats still have significant advantages on health care and abortion and have largely maintained those advantages,鈥� Hogan said. 鈥淲hereas education is fairly unique in being an issue that Democrats traditionally won on, but have lost a good deal of ground recently.”

Those developments will leave Democratic leaders wondering not only what hurt their credibility with parents, but also whether the damage can be reversed anytime soon. 

Many among the party鈥檚 noisy coalition of professional operatives, interest groups, and activists acknowledge that the left some families furious with local Democratic officials, who tended to be more cautious about reopening during the pandemic. But for those memories to fade, they argued, they must be replaced with a more defined agenda for K鈥�12 policy, which has been largely impressionistic since the end of the Obama administration.

Jorge Elorza is the CEO of the advocacy group , which commissioned Impact鈥檚 survey work. In an interview, he said that while the GOP had responded to the public鈥檚 pandemic-era dissatisfaction with public education by launching a forceful drive for school choice, Democrats 鈥渉aven鈥檛 offered anything鈥� to strike a meaningful contrast.

鈥淎s a party, we’ve lost the language, the ideas, the policy, and the vision on education, and it needs to be entirely rebuilt,鈥� said Elorza, the former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. 鈥淢ost Democrats would be very hard-pressed to answer the simple question of what is our party’s vision on education.”

The legacy of lockdowns

Sarah Sachen, a Chicago mother of four, said she鈥檇 been a 鈥渓ifelong Democrat鈥� before this November. But after the difficulties she faced putting her kids through school during the pandemic, she cast her first ballot for Donald Trump.

Sachen said the seeds of her decision were laid during the 2021鈥�22 school year. Having already struggled with the transition to online learning 鈥� her home鈥檚 electricity was spotty throughout parts of 2020, making it difficult for her children to use the Chromebooks provided to them by the school district 鈥� she was livid when the Chicago Teachers鈥� Union over safety protocols. Two of her children have Individualized Education Programs, making it nearly impossible for her to consider switching them to a private school, she said.

“It wasn’t fair to me that the Catholic school down my block was allowing kids to come and get their education while my kids, who have to be serviced by the system because they have special needs, were punished,鈥� remembered Sachen, whose involvement with Chicago Public Schools includes service on her .

COVID-era lockdowns presented a special challenge to the Democratic mayors who run most major American cities. Black and Hispanic families, much more so than their white and Asian counterparts, were to return to in-person schooling during 2020 and 2021; yet the educational and social-emotional disruptions posed by months spent in Zoom classrooms by students who were already struggling in school, further widening inequities in educational achievement.  

Sachen was already outraged with the length of the closures, the union for their resistance to reopening campuses. But she grew more animated last year, when the progressive Democrat and former CTU organizer Brandon Johnson won election as the city鈥檚 mayor. By this November, she said, she felt perfectly comfortable voting for Trump, whom she said she 鈥渉ated鈥� during his previous campaigns in 2016 and 2020.  

Not even Trump鈥檚 over their support for transgender healthcare access could sway Sachen, who has a transgender son. 

鈥淚 wasn’t scared to vote for him this time,鈥� Sachen said. 鈥淚 think it’ll be better for education and better all-around.” Many of her friends in the neighborhood of Garfield Ridge reached a similar calculation, and Trump lost consistently Democratic Illinois than any Republican nominee since the 1980s.

Michael Mikus, a Democratic political consultant based in western Pennsylvania, agreed that the challenge of educational leadership during a once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis had harmed his party鈥檚 brand. Swing voters in his home state, perennially one of America鈥檚 most decisive battlegrounds, too often thought of Democrats as being led by 鈥減eople who want to control your life.鈥�

“Democrats were often portrayed as not caring about what parents think,鈥� Mikus said, recalling the 2021 Virginia governor鈥檚 race, in which Republican Glenn Youngkin as a closing argument en route to an upset victory. 鈥淩ightly or wrongly, there was a segment of the electorate that may have considered voting for Democrats, but that sense just left a bad taste in their mouths.”

Returning to basic skills

Yet it remains unclear how the party might reclaim the initiative 鈥� or, indeed, how deep the reputational damage goes. 

Katie Paris is the founder of , a progressive advocacy group that specifically targets suburban women. Herself the mother of school-aged children, Paris said that while Trump鈥檚 election was a major disappointment, she was heartened by to establish school voucher-like programs across multiple states. The for state superintendent in North Carolina, offered more cause for optimism.

Green鈥檚 Republican opponent in the pivotal swing state, a longtime homeschool teacher who had referred to public schools as 鈥渋ndoctrination centers,鈥� is now in the Trump administration, though her future in state-level politics is murky.

Going forward, Paris argued, Democrats should speak directly to parents鈥� concerns about the academic and psychological deficits absorbed by students during the pandemic. Previous polling has revealed that K鈥�12 schools are on the wrong track, and a plurality believe that reading instruction in recent decades.

“I would like for the focus in public education to be on helping our kids recover from learning loss since COVID, which we鈥檙e still not talking about,鈥� Paris said, adding that Republicans would prefer to keep the spotlight on hot-button issues like the rights of LGBTQ students. 鈥淯nfortunately, the only people we heard talking about [schools] were those who wanted to tear them down and blame the trans community for their downfall.”

Impact鈥檚 Hogan agreed that the huge task of academic recovery was under-emphasized in Democrats鈥� campaign messaging. In focus groups, he said, when it came to providing resources for schools, including free lunch and after-school programs. But on the question of lifting achievement and bolstering student skills, a large number of respondents said that neither party had their support.

鈥淎bout a fifth of voters overall don’t trust either party to ensure school quality, and both parties are tied on that issue,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o for me, that’s a huge opportunity for Democrats to make gains.”

Since the end of the Obama administration, amid enervating fights over the Common Core academic standards and the rewriting of the No Child Left Behind Act, the party has mostly avoided staking out ambitious positions on K鈥�12 policy. In the absence of a set federal program, Democrats have gone their own ways, embracing the science of reading in some blue states while eliminating graduation requirements in others. 

Whatever direction they take, Mikus said, Democrats should take care to position themselves as the champions of families’ interests. 

“What we have to say is that the Democratic Party is on the side of parents and children. You can’t eliminate parents and parenting from the equation.”

Winning a House seat representing Delaware, 34-year-old McBride became the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, just four years after the Democrat was elected as the nation鈥檚 first transgender state senator. Groundbreaking in any year and especially one in which conservatives regularly attacked the transgender community, McBride鈥檚 victory also marked a major win for a multimillion-dollar campaign 鈥� launched by school shooting survivor David Hogg 鈥� to elect young lawmakers to state and national office. 

鈥淔rom the youngest-ever Senator to the first Trans member of Congress, Delaware knows what young leaders can accomplish when given a chance, just look at Joe Biden,鈥� Hogg posted on X, commenting on how the 81-year-old president was first in 1972 just days before his 30th birthday. 

After Hogg survived the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 of his classmates and educators, he became a formidable up-and-comer in Democratic politics, turning his attention to helping elect Gen Z and millennial Democrats. His latest effort is , a political action committee formed in 2023 that raised nearly $8.5 million as of September to elevate the campaigns of McBride and a dozen other young candidates. 

鈥淟eaders We Deserve is proud to say that Sarah will be our first endorsee elected to Congress,鈥� Hogg wrote. 

Beyond McBride鈥檚 high-profile win, candidates endorsed by Hogg鈥檚 PAC saw mixed results 鈥� with more defeats than victories. Of a dozen candidates offered campaign cash and boots-on-the-ground voter outreach by Leaders We Deserve, five won their races and seven lost.

They include the successful campaign of a seventh-grade math teacher in Atlanta, the defeat of a former Miss Texas who campaigned for a state House seat on a gun control platform, and the setback encountered by a 28-year-old mother who launched her Tennessee House of Representatives campaign after the state denied her access to an abortion. 

Leaders We Deserve has pumped millions of dollars 鈥� and resources from Democratic power players 鈥� into the campaigns of young candidates who support progressive causes like gun control, reproductive rights and protecting public school funding. The PAC didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment. 

Other Leaders We Deserve-endorsed candidates who beat their GOP opponents include Dante Pittman, to the North Carolina General Assembly helped Democrats break a Republican supermajority. In Hogg鈥檚 home state of Florida, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost 鈥� who at 27 became the first member of Gen Z to serve in Congress 鈥� bid with nearly of the vote.

In Georgia, middle school math teacher Bryce Berry who switched from Democrat to Republican last year after breaking from party ranks to support private school vouchers. In Ohio, Democrat Christine Cockley easily Republican rival Hussein Jabiri. 

The seven candidates who did not prevail include Kristian Carranza, whose campaign for in the Texas House of Representatives in Leaders We Deserve support before losing in a tight race to Republican rival and incumbent state Rep. John Lujan. In another competitive race in Texas, Republican Rep. Angie Chen Button won her to the Texas Legislature, defeating Democrat Averie Bishop. 

In Pennsylvania, former teacher and longtime Republican state Rep. Joe Emrick , defeating Leaders We Deserve-endorsed Democrat Anna Thomas, whose campaign centered on bolstering school funding. Republican Mike Sparks, who has served in the Tennessee House of Representatives since 2010, Democrat Luis Mata.

In another Tennessee House race, Republican Jeff Burkhart in a closely watched contest against Democrat Allie Phillips, who said she was forced to go out of state to terminate a nonviable pregnancy because of Tennessee鈥檚 strict abortion laws. After defeating the Leaders We Deserve-endorsed Phillips, Burkhart said his campaign was about 鈥渇ighting California, New York and everyone else.鈥� 

Nate Douglas, a 23-year-old University of Florida graduate, failed in his bid to oust Republican Florida Rep. Susan Plasencia. The Douglas campaign on get-out-the-vote efforts among college students. 

In Georgia, Republican state Sen. Shawn Still was , defeating Democrat Ashwin Ramaswami by 7 percentage points. Ramaswami, 25, was still in law school when he decided to campaign against Still, who in 2023 who were indicted alongside President-elect Donald Trump on allegations of conspiring to overturn Trump鈥檚 2020 presidential election defeat in the state. 

After Trump regained control of the White House and Republicans swept into elected office in races across the country, Hogg turned to X to reiterate his argument that new, young voices are more critical than ever. 

鈥淭ime for some big changes to the Democratic Party,鈥� he wrote.

The union鈥檚 political action committee began the 2024 cycle with $4 million in cash on hand, raised $12 million and has spent $13 million 鈥� leaving it with roughly $2 million to dole out before Election Day, according to the latest data from , the non-partisan organization that tracks money in politics.

The vast majority of its spending this election cycle 鈥� roughly $9 million 鈥� was donated to super PACs supporting Democrats and to local, state and federal candidates and parties. Among the top receivers: $3 million to the Senate Majority PAC, $1.6 to House Majority PAC, $445,000 to the Harris Victory Fund ($300,000 of which was originally donated to the Biden Victory Fund before the president stepped aside), and $420,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  

The AFT is traditionally one of the biggest supporters of Democrats, lending both the power of its PAC鈥檚 purse for advertising and mailings, and its strength in numbers for boots-on-the-ground get-out-the-vote operations.

Among the top 20 PACs based on contributions to Democratic candidates, total fundraising, total spent, and total spent in independent expenditures and communication costs, the AFT鈥檚 PACs place 8th. It鈥檚 donated $1.5 million to democratic congressional candidates, including to 196 House Democrats and 19 Senate Democrats.

鈥淜amala Harris and Tim Walz believe in the promise of America and will spend their time solving problems, not sowing fear, so every American can partake in that promise,鈥� AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a . 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not just what we can gain, it鈥檚 also what we will lose with Trump and Vance: our democracy, our freedoms, our public schools, our right to have a union, a vote and a voice. Extending the ladder of opportunity or destroying it.鈥� 

鈥淯nion members get this,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why we will fight every hour of every day for the next fortnight to get out the vote to elect candidates who proudly stand for freedom, democracy and opportunity.鈥�

Earlier this month, the AFT teamed up with the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 鈥� the nation鈥檚 largest public service unions 鈥� in a coordinated, multi-state voter outreach initiative across battleground states.

鈥淭his joint action represents a significant escalation of labor’s political engagement, with the unions pooling resources and mobilizing their combined membership of several million workers and includes people of all backgrounds working across the public service 鈥� as nurses, child care providers, sanitation workers, first responders, teachers, education support professionals and higher education workers, among others,鈥� the of the effort reads.

Notably, labor unions play an outsized role in many of the election鈥檚 most crucial swing states: 21% of votes cast in Michigan in the 2020 presidential election were from union households, representing approximately one-fifth of the electorate, according to the union. The same is true for Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where union households accounted for 18% and 13% of votes cast, respectively.

The investigation, prompted by complaints from districts and the public, and led by the GOP-led House, cleared Walters of any misconduct and found no missing funds. 

But Walters and his staff frequently put off asking for clarification when issues were ambiguous, often took months to correct mistakes and left districts in the dark about accessing funds. 

The department 鈥渃ould have allayed districts鈥� concerns with communication in advance of delays or as soon as a problem was identified,鈥� the report said.

Critics say the Republican state chief has neglected his duties, focused on culture war controversies and prioritized his own political career as top officials left the department.

Much of the back-and-forth between lawmakers and agency staff focused on what districts viewed as an in getting preliminary estimates of Title I funds for high-poverty schools. In previous years, districts received those figures in the spring, allowing them time to recruit and hire staff. The drawn-out timetable left districts 鈥渦nderstandably upset,鈥� said the report, describing Walters鈥� staff as 鈥渙verconfident鈥� in their position that there was no delay. 

 Walters, however, took a defiant tone during a two-hour session before the oversight committee Tuesday.

鈥淭his is a waste of time for the people of the state of Oklahoma,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have been transparent in everything that we do.鈥�

He attributed the hold-up to fraud prevention efforts and cited the department鈥檚 success in stopping one unnamed district from using federal dollars to renovate a 鈥渇ourplex鈥� owned by the superintendent. Dan Isett, department spokesman, did not respond to a request for more details.

State officials informed districts of the extra fraud precautions by email, Walters said. 

鈥淲e can’t make them read emails,鈥� he said. 

Democrats, however, seemed dissatisfied with the superintendent鈥檚 explanations.

鈥淚 wonder if the concerns cited by our districts will continue to be met with derision, to be quite frank,鈥� said Rep. Melissa Provenzano, who represents Tulsa, home to the state鈥檚 largest school district.

The investigation sought to understand the 鈥渂reakdown of communication,鈥� said Regina Birchum, the oversight agency鈥檚 interim director. 鈥淎ll we wanted to do was try to bridge the gap.鈥�

The agency surveyed districts about their concerns, but only about a third responded 鈥� proof, to Walters, that most districts have no complaints with the department. But Birchum added that some superintendents declined to complete the survey for fear of retribution.

Provenzano pressed Walters on whether he would follow the recommendations of the report, which include promptly reviewing legislation to identify potential confusion and improving communication to districts. He only said his office was reviewing them.

Thoughts on answers at the LOFT hearing:

It wasn’t my fault.
Everyone else is lying.
Blame the feds.
The legislature was unclear.

Am I missing anything?

鈥� Rick Cobb (@grendelrick)

Request to attorney general

While the report focused on five programs that districts and lawmakers complained about, including funds for and emergency , another Democrat, Rep. Meloyde Blancett, wants the oversight committee to expand its investigation into other issues. Those include for political purposes and which are receiving funds through the state鈥檚 tax credit scholarship program.

Republican Rep. Kevin Wallace, a co-chair of the committee, said he鈥檒l leave that request up to new leaders in the legislature. 

Blancett, however, has also asked Attorney General Gentner Drummond to offer a legal definition of 鈥渕alfeasance鈥� to 鈥渃larify the conditions under which legal action may be warranted.鈥� 

Drummond鈥檚 office has not yet responded.

The report also examined what happened with $150 million in school security funds lawmakers approved last year in response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. 

While it took six months to do so, the department initially told districts they could roll over unused funds from one year to the next in case they were reserving the money for a large security upgrade. Then the department reversed that guidance, sparking complaints to lawmakers. 

It took an opinion from Drummond, issued in August, to clear up the matter, but Walters鈥� lack of urgency in seeking clarity and miscommunication within the department were among the issues the oversight agency found 鈥減roblematic.鈥� 

鈥淎gency departments were not communicating clearly with each other, which resulted in incorrect communications to school districts,鈥� the report said.

Provenzano鈥檚 questioning also pointed to one area where there still seems to be a misunderstanding among Walters鈥� top aides. She asked whether payroll savings would be used to purchase Bibles for classrooms 鈥� something Isett, the department spokesman, told reporters. 

鈥淲e’ve never stated that,鈥� Walters said.

She also asked whether communication with districts might improve if the department filled vacant positions. But that seems unlikely. 

鈥淥ur goal,鈥� he responded, 鈥渋s to shrink government.鈥�

In fact, following the meeting, he issued another demand in keeping with what he has as his 鈥渁ggressive, offensive agenda.鈥� In , he insisted Vice President Kamala Harris turn over $475 million as reimbursement for educating immigrant students in Oklahoma, even though prohibits denying an education to non-citizens. 

Harris鈥� office did not respond to a request for comment.

On an evening that had already seen appearances by Bill Clinton, Oprah and a lengthy speakers鈥� list of Democratic Party officeholders, Walz was preceded in Chicago by 15 former members of the Mankato West High School Scarlets, the football team to a Minnesota state title in 1999. Wider and grayer than in their playing days, the two lines of jersey-clad supporters walked onstage to the strains of the Mankato West fight song.

The miniature pep rally was another biographical touch in the Democrats鈥� efforts to introduce the electorate to Walz, an obscure figure outside of party circles just a few weeks ago. The campaign has leaned heavily on the governor鈥檚 years of experience as a teacher and coach, including numerous testimonials from former pupils and . If elected, he would become the first vice president in over 60 years to have previously worked as a K鈥�12 teacher.

In a 16-minute address, Walz credited his students with inspiring him to make his first run for Congress in 2006, a longshot bid that saw him unseat a six-term incumbent. 

鈥淭here I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience and no money, running in a deep-red district,鈥� he remembered. 鈥淏ut you know what? Never underestimate a public-school teacher.鈥�

Yet, like most of the convention thus far, the speech ran short on details related to education policy. Walz made little mention of his six-year governing record in Minnesota, where he signed sweeping school funding legislation in 2023 but also for the length of pandemic-related school closures. While delivering a passing shot at Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance for attending Yale Law School, he didn鈥檛 refer to the wave of laws passed in red states that allow public funding to flow to private school tuition. 

Instead, in keeping with attacks launched by speakers through the first three days of the convention, Walz jabbed at Republicans for seeking to review and remove controversial materials from school libraries. As governor, he signed laws both to provide universal school lunches to students and based on ideology 鈥� a combination he trumpeted with one of the night鈥檚 biggest applause lines.

鈥淲hile other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,鈥� he said to cheers.

Echoing the Democrats鈥� longstanding commitments to gun safety legislation, Walz further pledged to fight for children鈥檚 鈥渇reedom to go to school without being shot dead in the hall.鈥� Despite his respect for the Second Amendment as a hunter and Army National Guard veteran, he added, 鈥渙ur first responsibility is to keep our kids safe.鈥�

With audience members waving signs reading 鈥淐oach Walz,鈥� the nominee brought the remarks to a close by returning to the theme of teamwork and the beginnings of his leadership on the gridiron.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the fourth quarter. We鈥檙e down a field goal, but we鈥檙e on offense and we鈥檝e got the ball. We鈥檙e driving down the field. And boy, do we have the right team.鈥�

鈥淭here are clear priorities that overwhelming numbers of Americans on both sides of the aisle can support,鈥� said James Lane, CEO of PDK International, a professional organization for educators that administers the annual survey. 鈥淚f I were a candidate for any office at the federal level, I would want to know those things that have broad support because they鈥檙e likely to have an opportunity for success.鈥� 

But beyond those narrow avenues of agreement, the country is separated by large partisan differences on issues from student mental health to paying for college. Eighty-six percent of Democrats want the next administration to focus on mental health and college affordability, compared with less than two-thirds of Republicans.

American voters also vary widely on their views of Washington鈥檚 role in education. Former President Donald Trump says he would dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, push for universal private school choice and expect schools to promote patriotism, according to his . On the Democratic side, Vice President Kamala Harris would push for more 鈥渟tringent guardrails鈥� on charter schools, revive an effort to pass and expand the to provide up to $6,000 for families with a newborn. 

Less than half of Americans 鈥� 45% 鈥� approve of how the Biden administration has handled education policy, the same they gave former President Donald Trump in 2020. But less than a third say they鈥檇 trust Trump on education if he鈥檚 elected again in November. Their views on a potential Harris-Walz administration are unclear 鈥� the poll was conducted before the disastrous debate that sparked President Joe Biden鈥檚 departure from the race. 

Lane, who served as acting assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education in the Biden administration before joining PDK last year, declined to comment on the president鈥檚 education track record. Attitudes toward the candidates might have shifted slightly if the poll had been conducted after Harris became the nominee, he said, but views on the major issues likely wouldn鈥檛 have changed much. 

The large partisan gaps are surprising given that many issues 鈥渄on’t really have a straightforward partisan connotation,鈥� said David Houston, an education professor at George Mason University. Public pre-K, for example, has long held bipartisan support at the state level, but a federal role in expanding access is a much higher priority for Democrats than Republicans, 71% and 48% respectively. 

The poll also shows that 54% of Americans overall 鈥� and 70% of public school parents 鈥� say education will play an extremely or very important role in the upcoming presidential election. But Houston is skeptical. 

鈥淚 would be surprised if education was the top-of-mind issue that would be deciding those votes,鈥� he said. That could change, he said, if the race is really close. 鈥淎nything that moves the vote count a fraction of a percent matters in a head-to-head race.鈥�

Across the sample of over 1,000 participants, there are also striking differences in responses by race. Support for a greater focus on helping students catch up in school, addressing mental health and reducing college costs is roughly 20% higher among Blacks than whites. 

The largest gap is on the issue of protecting students from discrimination, with 87% of Black respondents saying they want more attention paid to civil rights, compared to 51% of whites. Hispanic and Black Americans were nearly tied on wanting the next administration to strengthen access to public pre-K 鈥� 66% and 67% respectively 鈥� but just half of white respondents viewed it as a priority.

The Trump platform doesn鈥檛 mention early learning, but a for his potential second term, released by the conservative Heritage Foundation, would eliminate Head Start, the federally funded program for low-income families. While for 3- and 4-year-olds remains a plank in the Democratic platform, Biden was not able to win Congressional support for the issue when he ran on it in 2020.

Views on charters

Charter school expansion was the only issue where less than half of Americans 鈥� 35% 鈥� want an expanded federal role. Surprisingly, just half of Republicans called it a priority, perhaps reflecting the party鈥檚 increasing shift toward education savings accounts, which allow parents to pay for private school tuition or homeschooling costs with public funds.

鈥淸GOP] interest in charter schools has really petered out, compared to their heyday in the 2010s,鈥� Houston said. 鈥淭he school choice wing of the party has its energies focused elsewhere.鈥�

Among Democrats, who often accuse such schools of siphoning students from traditional outlets, less than a quarter wanted more federal attention on charter expansion.

Enrollment trends tell a different story, said Sonia Park, executive director of the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition, a network that encourages socioeconomic and racial diversity. Charters overall have seen continued growth 鈥� a 2% increase last year, 鈥� during a time when the student population in district schools was flat or declining. 

鈥淧arents want quality public school choice, regardless of where they are, and charters are part of that,鈥� she said.

Democrats promise to pick up where the Biden administration left off on charter policy. According to the 2024 , additional federal funding for charter expansions or renewals would hinge on whether local districts determine they 鈥渟ystematically underserve the neediest students鈥� 鈥� a change that goes beyond restrictions the Biden administration adopted in 2022. 

鈥楬arrowing鈥� results on teaching

With Harris鈥檚 selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former high school teacher, as her running mate, education is likely to get frequent attention during the fall campaign. But Lane, with PDK, wants to hear specific plans to address ongoing in the teaching workforce. Relief funds that allowed districts to hire more staff will soon expire, a reality that already contributed to a wave of . Some districts are still starting the school year with , and another shows just 16% of teachers would recommend the profession to their friends.

For the first time, the survey also asked the public about AI in education, a subject that often generates mixed reactions. Over 60% of Americans support AI for tutoring, test preparation and lesson planning. But only 43% favored students relying on AI for help with homework.

In keeping with its focus on teaching, PDK International routinely includes a question in its poll that asks parents whether they鈥檇 support their children going into education. The organization runs , a nationwide program that aims to get middle and high school students interested in the profession.

Just four in 10 parents say they鈥檇 like to see one of their children become a teacher 鈥� a significant drop from the three-fourths of parents who favored that choice when the question was first asked in 1969. The primary reason: low pay. 

鈥嬧�嬧�漌e’re going to have to address salaries,鈥� Lane said. 鈥淭he fact that 60% of folks wouldn’t even recommend a teaching career to their own children is harrowing, considering the needs that we have.鈥�

While a slight majority of Black and Hispanic voters say they still trust Democrats more than Republicans on the issue of education, more than two-thirds say they do not think Democrats are focused enough on improving K-12 schools, according to a .

The shot across the bow comes as Democrats seek to maintain their slim Senate majority and nab four seats to take control of the House in November. more or less a dead heat in the race for the House for months 鈥� though calculations in both chambers are somewhat scrambled in the wake of President Joe Biden stepping aside to anoint Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee and the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. 

鈥淏lack and Hispanic voters view and experience education differently, particularly parents, and the data shows that they strongly believe that public schools are failing children of their race,鈥� says Cornell Belcher, president of Democratic polling firm Brilliant Corners. 鈥淚mproving K-12 schools is a top issue concern they want their elected officials focused on and they overwhelmingly believe that Democrats are not focused enough on the issue of education.鈥�

Brilliant Corners performed the survey between June 4 and June 17 on behalf of Freedom Coalition for Charter Schools, and polled more than 800 Black and Hispanic likely voters in seven swing states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

鈥淚t’s quite frustrating as someone who lives in the city of Atlanta and who does vote that you often don’t see our elected officials have even been paying attention to education until something tragic happens,鈥� says Keisha Spells, who has spent nearly two decades working with families as a community engagement specialist in the public school system, and whose  own four children attended  Atlanta鈥檚 public schools. 

鈥淚n 17 years, I have seen families in complete frustration,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e watched failing schools remain open and fail more kids. You have to ask yourself: Are we failing generations now, as the grandmother, mother and now the child, all are unsuccessfully reading at [a] third grade [level]?鈥� 

鈥淭hey know that this isn’t right and that their kids need something more, but they don鈥檛 know how to advocate for it.鈥�

For decades, voters overwhelmingly trusted Democrats over Republicans on the issue of education. But that trust has eroded in recent years, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when K-12 schools across the country shuttered, some for more than an entire academic year. The impact of those closures disproportionately fell on Black and Hispanic students and students from low-income families, and their academic recovery has been painfully slow as a result. 

The new poll shows that a quarter of all respondents say they trust neither party on education issues or don鈥檛 know who to trust. Over a third, 36%, of Black voters who also identify as public school parents trust neither party, and roughly a quarter of Hispanic voters trust Republicans more than Democrats.

鈥淒emocratic leaders have an opportunity here to better position themselves in these important battleground states with this key base constituency by addressing their concerns about how the school system is serving their communities and elevating education as a national issue and priority,鈥� Belcher says.

As it relates to specific education policy issues, 91% of the survey鈥檚 respondents say parents deserve the right to choose the public school that best meets their child鈥檚 individual needs, and 68% agree that children in their neighborhood would be able to get a better education if they could attend a different school outside their current zip code. Nearly the same percentage, 67%, agree that most children who graduate from their assigned public school aren鈥檛 yet ready for college or the workforce.

The vast majority of those polled also say they support increasing funding for public schools, including public charter schools, increasing teacher pay, hiring more diverse teachers and school leaders and including more Black and Latino history in curricula.

鈥淲e really wanted to hear from Black and Latino swing voters because this is an opportunity for lawmakers to hear what their constituents want and need,鈥� says Jay Artis-Wright, the executive director of Freedom Coalition for Charter Schools, which advocates for equitable access to quality public school options for Black and Brown communities. 

鈥淗ere are the lived experiences of swing voters and here is an opportunity for lawmakers to know exactly how they feel,鈥� she says.  鈥淭he clear message is that education is a priority for us and the data is showing that not only do we want education, we prioritize public education.鈥�

Notably, Republicans in many of the same swing states where Black and Hispanic voters were polled 鈥� Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin 鈥� have capitalized on parental frustrations over public schools in the wake of the pandemic. Several Republicans are calling for more choices by passing legislation that establishes or significantly expands private school choice programs, including education savings accounts, tax credit scholarships and voucher programs. 

The poll shows that while Black and Hispanic swing state voters generally support private school choice programs, their support is contingent upon ensuring that  funding for these programs  isn鈥檛 shifted from public school budgets and  that the schools don鈥檛 discriminate based on values or beliefs of students and staff. They鈥檙e much more enthusiastic about increasing funding for public schools and creating more public school choices, including charter schools.

鈥淩epublicans have been a little bit more out ahead on the issue, but our Black and Latino voters favor Democrats and trust Democrats more on education,鈥� Artis-Wright says. 鈥淎nd at the same time, feel like they could be doing more.鈥�

鈥淲e don’t want to do the us versus them narrative,鈥� she says about public schools versus private schools. 鈥淏ut the reality is that they want more options. And that鈥檚 a huge issue coming out of the pandemic because we can’t just focus on this monolithic traditional public school. We cannot do this anymore and everyone is yelling about it.鈥�

The poll is hardly the first to pick up on the increasing frustration among Black and Hispanic voters on the issue of K-12 education, including as it relates to calls for more funding and more choices. commissioned by the National Parents Union, a parent-led advocacy organization. 

鈥淧arents have been really clear about wanting something different,鈥� says Keri Rodrigues, founding president of the National Parents Union. 鈥淯pwards of 90% of people say parents deserve the right to choose the public option that best meets their child鈥檚 individual needs. You see it in this poll, you see it in our poll. We couldn’t be clearer about this.鈥�

鈥淓ducation for us is the pathway to economic mobility,鈥� she says about Black and Hispanic parents. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 see schools actually keeping pace with that and that is why you’re seeing a lot of movement among parents seeking alternatives and having this consistent outcry of wanting something different.鈥�

Texas Democrats are zeroing in on education issues in their bid to flip several state House districts this fall, as they look to blame GOP lawmakers for teacher shortages and school closures and mobilize their base around defeating Gov. Greg Abbott鈥檚 signature school voucher policy.

That approach came into focus last week at the Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso, where party leaders and House candidates repeatedly bashed Abbott鈥檚 push to provide taxpayer funds for private school tuition. They also acknowledged the governor鈥檚 recent success ousting members of his own party who oppose school vouchers, invoking it as a reason to focus on battleground House races this fall.

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, an Austin Democrat who is leading House Democrats鈥� campaign efforts, told delegates at the convention that Abbott鈥檚 crusade against voucher opponents in the primary has tipped the scales of the House narrowly toward passage of vouchers next year.

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鈥淭o put it another way, we need to elect about three more Democrats to the Texas House to defeat vouchers and defend our neighborhood public schools,鈥� she said.

Democrats and rural Republicans in the lower chamber have historically united against measures that would divert state funds to help families pay for private school. Critics say vouchers would siphon money away from public schools that are already facing widespread teacher shortages and budget deficits 鈥� a trend exacerbated by lawmakers鈥� failure last year to tap the state鈥檚 historic $33 billion budget surplus to boost school funding, after the effort got caught up in the voucher fight.

Most of the House battlefield this election cycle is centered in the Dallas and San Antonio suburbs and South Texas, across several districts with struggling schools where Democrats hope public education will resonate at the ballot box.

Among their top targets is GOP state Rep. John Lujan, who won his Bexar County district in 2022 by 4 percentage points 鈥� overcoming trends atop the ballot, where Democrat Beto O鈥橰ourke carried the district by 2 points over Abbott.

Kristian Carranza, a progressive organizer and Lujan鈥檚 Democratic opponent, said when she meets voters on block-walks, 鈥渢he No. 1 issue at the door is public education and the voucher fight.鈥� She noted that the district 鈥� which covers south San Antonio and the eastern side of Bexar County 鈥� includes beleaguered districts like Harlandale ISD, which amid a funding deficit.

鈥淔or people, this is a lived reality when we talk about private school vouchers,鈥� said Carranza, who opposes the measure. 鈥淭he way I talk about this is, the financial crisis schools are facing is due to massive budget deficits, and that’s the inevitable result of elected officials like John Lujan who have been choosing to toe the line with their party rather than stand up for their community.鈥�

Abbott and his pro-voucher allies argue that parents deserve the option to remove their kids from the public education system, which has been attacked by conservatives over its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about how race, history and sex are taught in the classroom.

Republicans are already countering Democrats鈥� narrative, accusing the House voucher opponents of being responsible for the demise of a bill last fall that would have pumped billions into public schools. The bill died after a coalition of House Democrats and 21 Republicans removed vouchers from the package; the bill author then withdrew the entire measure, citing Abbott鈥檚 threat to veto education funding that did not include vouchers.

Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said Democrats, by putting voucher opposition at the forefront of their campaigns, 鈥渁re fighting for teacher unions and their self-serving agenda, instead of the Texans they claim to represent.鈥�

鈥淲hen it comes to education, parents matter, and families deserve the ability to choose the best education opportunities for their children,鈥� Mahaleris said in a statement. 鈥淚f Democrats want to make their opposition to parental empowerment a central theme of their campaign, good luck.鈥�

Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said part of the strategy for Democrats 鈥渋s to move the debate over public education back onto friendlier terrain鈥� 鈥� toward school funding and away from things like curriculum.

In recent years, Blank said, Republicans have mobilized voters 鈥渂ased on the idea that, essentially, teachers weren’t to be trusted and the curriculum had gone off the rails,鈥� allowing them to go on offense in an area typically dominated by Democrats.

鈥淭raditionally, we think of public education as a Democratic issue, because most often if we’re talking about public education, we’re talking about spending, and 鈥� there’s almost no debate in which Democrats aren’t going to be more willing than Republicans to spend money on public education,鈥� Blank said. 鈥淏ut if we’re talking about curriculum concerns and parental rights, that puts Democrats in a difficult position.鈥�

Under the banner of protecting kids in public schools, Texas Republicans in recent years have passed laws aimed at of school libraries and and racism can be taught in public schools. Conservatives have also extended the battle outside the classroom, passing a law in front of minors and proposing a bill that drag queen story hours 鈥� events typically held at public libraries and bookstores aimed at promoting literacy.

Over the last several days, Republicans including Abbott and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz have taken aim at Democrats for hosting a drag queen, Brigitte Bandit, at their convention. Bandit delivered a speech where she defended the practice of reading books to children at drag queen story hours and took aim at the Legislature鈥檚 move to ban transgender youth from taking puberty blockers and receiving hormone therapies.

鈥淭hese are the same Texas Democrats who thought it was a good idea to parade a drag queen on stage to talk about indoctrinating impressionable children,鈥� Mahaleris said, underscoring how Abbott has painted the public school system as a hotbed of liberal indoctrination in his push for school vouchers.

Carranza is not the only Democratic candidate shaping her campaign around public education and vouchers. In Dallas County, is emphasizing her background as a substitute teacher in her bid to unseat state Rep. Angie Chen Button, R-Richardson. Bishop also has pointed to the firsthand view she received of Texas鈥� flagging public schools after winning the 2022 Miss Texas competition.

鈥淚 personally saw how severely underfunded and undersupported our schools are,鈥� Bishop said at the Democratic convention. 鈥淪chool vouchers will pass if we do not flip my seat from red to blue.鈥�

Democrats also see a newfound opportunity to pick up the San Antonio-area seat held by state Rep. Steve Allison 鈥� a moderate Republican who opposes school vouchers 鈥� after Allison was defeated in the March primary by conservative challenger Marc LaHood, a criminal defense attorney who backs vouchers.

State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said LaHood holds 鈥渆xtreme views鈥� that are out of step with the district.

鈥淟ooking at the contrast between Steve Allison and Marc LaHood, and understanding and knowing the independent and educated voters in the [district鈥檚] Alamo Heights area, there’s no doubt in my mind that our Democratic hopes just increased tenfold,鈥� said Martinez Fischer, who chairs the Texas House Democratic Caucus.

Under its current configuration, the district would have been carried by former President Donald Trump by about 2 percentage points in 2020. Trump would have carried Button鈥檚 district by half a point the same year.

LaHood, asked about Martinez Fischer鈥檚 comment, said in a statement that 鈥減arental choice isn鈥檛 a partisan issue.鈥�

鈥淧arents want and deserve to have more options in selecting the best educational environment for their individual children,鈥� LaHood said. 鈥淒emocrats are in for a rude awakening if they want to make disempowering parents their hill to die on. I welcome the conversation and the fight.鈥�

This article originally appeared in at . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

The Minnesota House of Representatives voted 124-8 Monday afternoon to approve legislation that removes a ban on school resource officers using prone restraint on students. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Nearly four years after George Floyd suffocated to death while being pinned face down to the pavement by a police officer, Minnesota Democrats are fast-tracking legislation that would undo a less-than-year-old ban prohibiting school-based cops from using that same type of restraint on students. 

As early as Monday, the state鈥檚 House of Representatives is slated to consider a proposal that presents a drastic departure by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz 鈥� rules that explicitly barred school resource officers from using face-down 鈥減rone restraint.鈥�

The ban was part of a broader police reform movement that followed Floyd鈥檚 murder. The fatal physical hold led to the largest civil rights protest in U.S. history, a national reckoning on racism, policy reforms that sought to address police brutality and, in Minneapolis and dozens of districts nationwide, the removal of sworn officers from school campuses. In Minnesota, new state rules barred police officers from using chokeholds on people and prone restraints were banned in the state鈥檚 prisons. 

Now, as the state鈥檚 Democrats make a 180-degree turn on the campus reform, education equity advocates have accused state leaders of falling to the political pressure of law enforcement groups ahead of a November election where party lawmakers seek to maintain their narrow majority in the state House. The proposal cleared the House Ways and Means committee earlier this week. 

Physical restraints have for children including injury and, in some cases, death. Yet for Republican lawmakers and law enforcement, the change in Minnesota went a step too far. Police departments statewide pulled their cops from schools in protest of the restraint restriction. 

During a recent Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee hearing, Democratic Sen. Bonnie Westlin, lead sponsor of the Senate version of the bill that would restore prone restraints in schools, presented it less as a backtrack and more as an opportunity. The issue is about ensuring campus cops remain 鈥渋mportant team members in our schools,鈥� Westlin said, while creating uniformity across school resource officers鈥� duties, their training requirements and accountability.  

Along with removing restraint rules for school-based police and campus security staff, the pending legislation would allocate $150,000 this year to develop consistent, statewide training standards for school resource officers and require police to complete the lessons before working on campuses. The bill also seeks to clarify that school-based police officers should not be involved in routine student discipline. 

鈥淲hen a local community determines that they would like to engage SROs, we want to make sure there is uniformity about expectations for everyone concerned,鈥� Westlin said.

Advocates who lauded the prone restraint ban, however, say that lawmakers have turned their backs on Floyd鈥檚 legacy. 

鈥淗ow is it that 鈥� in the state where this man gets killed and the world erupted 鈥� that we are not the leading people who are banning this on our kids?鈥� asked advocate Khulia Pringle, the Minnesota director of the National Parents Union and a steering committee member of the Solutions Not Suspensions Coalition, a group of education nonprofits that has lobbied against the legislation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 banned in prisons, it鈥檚 banned for students with disabilities. 

鈥淲hy can鈥檛 we extend that same courtesy to all children?鈥� 

The 鈥榝ix鈥�

Presented by Democratic leaders as an 鈥淪RO fix鈥� bill, the proposal comes after police departments got wind of the restraint ban last fall 鈥� an under-the-radar change in a larger education bill that passed without opposition. In response, about 40 law enforcement agencies removed their school resource officers from campuses. 

, school resource officers and campus security personnel are prohibited from using face-down prone restraints and 鈥渃ertain physical holds,鈥� including those that restrict or impair 鈥渁 pupil鈥檚 ability to breathe鈥� or their 鈥渁bility to communicate distress.鈥� 

The ban represented an extension of state rules that have been on the books for years. In 2015, after that 鈥渋t is only a matter of time before a Minnesota child is seriously injured or killed while in prone restraint,鈥� lawmakers banned educators from using the technique on children with disabilities. Nationally, that curtail educators from using prone restraints and other tactics that restrict students鈥� breathing. 

In Washington, D.C., Democratic lawmakers have sought for years to pass . Nationally, about 35,000 students were placed in physical restraints at school during the 2020-21 school year, from the Education Department鈥檚 civil rights office. Black students represented 15% of K-12 school enrollment and 21% of those placed in physical holds. Meanwhile, students with disabilities represented 14% of the national enrollment 鈥� and 81% of those subjected to restraints. 

After the new changes were put in place in Minnesota and students returned to classes last fall, law enforcement agencies argued it stirred confusion among their ranks, opened their departments to lawsuits and tied their officers鈥� hands in how they work to keep schools safe and combat crimes like vandalism. Republican lawmakers seized on the furor and demanded a special legislative session to repeal the law. 

The Coon Rapids Police Department, located in a northern Minneapolis suburb, is among the agencies that removed its officers from schools. That decision was reversed and the agency鈥檚 four campus cops after the state attorney general issued a clarification on the law鈥檚 limits. The school resource officer program was put on hold temporarily last fall in part because of how officers are trained to do their jobs, Captain of Investigations Tanya Harmoning told 社区黑料. She said she wasn鈥檛 sure how often prone restraint had been used by her officers inside schools. Regardless of whether an officer is stationed inside a school building or on a city street, she said, they 鈥渁re all trained in the same tactics.鈥� 

鈥淥ur officers are trained a certain way to handle certain situations,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome of these people transition back out onto the road, so to expect them to transition from 鈥榶ou can do it here, but you can鈥檛 do it here,鈥� kind of thing, that鈥檚 just not how we train our people.鈥�

In last fall, Attorney General Keith Ellison clarified that the ban didn鈥檛 restrict officers from using prone restraints in cases involving imminent harm or death, which offered assurances to many law enforcement agencies that agreed to return officers to schools. 

The special session that Republicans and police brass demanded didn鈥檛 come to fruition but the issue has become a top priority this year for Gov. Walz and his Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which controls both chambers of the state legislature. 

State officials and education leaders have sought to frame the debate as being not about prone restraint, but rather the need to get police back in schools. 

鈥楾he voices of all stakeholders鈥�

When Democratic Rep. Cedrick Frazier appeared before the House Education Policy Committee in mid-February, he acknowledged the timing of his testimony: 鈥淲e are not far removed,鈥� he said, 鈥渇rom the tragic murder of George Floyd.鈥� 

He pivoted to a state law passed in response that banned police from using chokeholds 鈥� rules that he said were critical to their discussions about school-based police. With the chokehold ban in place, he suggested the prone restraint prohibition was unnecessary. 

鈥淭he tension and anxiety that has been discussed, in large part, stems from the egregious visual of that tragic day,鈥� Frazier testified. But even without a ban on prone restraints, he said that state law would continue to prohibit school-based officers from pinning students to the ground in ways that restrict breathing.

鈥淥ur only focus must be doing everything we can to ensure that while our young people are in our schools, that we ensure that their environment is safe from any type of harm,鈥� Frazier said. 鈥淲e must ensure our young people have the best environment to have the best possible outcomes.鈥� 

His testimony didn鈥檛 explicitly touch on prone restraints or why police needed greater autonomy around their use in classrooms. Representatives for Frazier and the governor didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment and state Sen. Westlin鈥檚 office declined an interview request. 

In his testimony, Education Commissioner Willie Jett focused on schools鈥� need for campus police officers and the bill鈥檚 new training requirements. He, too, didn鈥檛 touch specifically on restraint procedures. 

鈥淪ROs are viewed by many as essential to maintaining safe and secure learning environments and data from the tells us that an overwhelming majority of students from all demographic areas value the SROs in their schools,鈥� Jett said. 

In Minnesota, state education officials have sought to reduce schools鈥� reliance on restraint tactics for years. The reveal that students with disabilities were subjected to more than 10,000 physical restraints during the 2021-22 school year, with such holds disproportionately used on Black and Indigenous students. Frequently, , these holds result in injuries 鈥� and more often for adults than children. During the 2021-22 school year, districts reported 733 staff injuries from placing students in restraints 鈥� a rate that equates to about one staff injury for every 14 physical holds. That same year, 161 students were reported injured.  

Frazier鈥檚 work leading the reform bill appears to be at odds with his broader championing of policing and public safety. After Floyd鈥檚 murder, Frazier became known in the state as in favor or progressive police reforms, often drawing on his personal experiences with inequities growing up as a Black teen on Chicago鈥檚 South Side. In September, as police agencies statewide began pulling officers from schools, Frazier signaled his support for the new prone restraint ban. The House People of Color and Indigenous Caucus, which Frazier co-chairs, released a statement expressing that same sentiment.

鈥淭he provision in the education bill passed earlier this year related to school personnel is clear: School staff, including school resource officers, are not allowed to use prone restraints,鈥� or other holds that restrict a student鈥檚 ability to breathe, the caucus wrote in the statement, which bore Frazier鈥檚 name. Given the attorney general鈥檚 opinion extending SROs鈥� authority to restrain kids in serious cases, the group wrote, 鈥渃hanges to the law are not needed.鈥�

In Republican鈥檚 unsuccessful bid to force a special legislative session, they found common ground with Education Minnesota, the state teacher鈥檚 union, which noted that on how to protect themselves and students during potentially dangerous situations. In 2021, union spokesperson Chris Williams told 社区黑料 the group was concerned about 鈥渢he ongoing racial disparities that we know exist in the use of restrictive procedures,鈥� and noted support for rules that prohibited prone restraint in classrooms. 

Williams didn鈥檛 respond to a list of questions about the pending legislation introduced by Frazier who, along with being a state representative, works as a . 

鈥楶rone kills kids鈥�

When Matt Shaver testified at the House education committee last month, he opened with a grim warning: 鈥淧rone kills kids.鈥�

鈥淲e are advocates for kids 鈥� and prone kills kids,鈥� said Shaver, the policy director of the nonprofit EdAllies, which is a member of the Solutions Not Suspensions Coalition working to maintain the current prone restraint ban. 鈥淭his is not about whether SROs belong in schools,鈥� as lawmakers and state education officials have cast the conversation, he said. 鈥淭his is about whether we believe holds that kill children belong in school.鈥� 

Shaver cited which examined childhood fatalities that stemmed from physical restraints over a 26-year period. Researchers identified 79 incidents where restraints led to deaths in settings including foster homes, psychiatric agencies and schools. Deaths were most common when children were held in the face-down prone restraints 鈥� and most often for benign childhood behaviors like failing to remain silent or sit without wriggling. Investigations into the fatalities found that adults routinely failed to follow proper restraint policies and laws. 

鈥淚n 15 fatalities, children vomited, urinated or turned blue during the restraint,鈥� researchers concluded in the 2021 study, which was published in the academic journal Child & Youth Care Forum. 鈥淭hese signals should have been detected by an adult monitoring these events and immediately triggered a change in tactics or discontinuation of the restraint.鈥�

Shaver told 社区黑料 he believes the Democrats are reacting to the politics of the police 鈥渨ork stoppage鈥� and a desire not to appear soft on crime ahead of the November election. That has placed them in the position, he said, of wanting to overturn the restraint restriction, but 鈥渘ot in a way that will freak out their base.鈥� 

鈥淭hey may have failed at doing that,鈥� Shaver said.

WASHINGTON 鈥� U.S. House Democratic leaders on Wednesday called on Congress to pass President Joe Biden鈥檚 $16 billion supplemental child care funding request.

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鈥淒emocrats would be wise to reclaim the issue of K-12 education, starting with a recognition that the United States has long been falling behind international competitors and suffered another blow with COVID. They might consider a multipronged approach at both the state and federal levels.鈥�

Rubin鈥檚 argument is intuitive: there鈥檚 that the pandemic left U.S. kids reeling. There鈥檚 also proof that American families are about their kids鈥� and progress. 

As kids struggle, as parents and caregivers fret, some prominent conservatives are currently exploring whether public schools can be meaningfully improved if we give enough families public for private schools and/or if we can figure out precisely which books to ban. These are not serious responses to the problems 鈥� and anxieties 鈥� most American families face. Democrats would benefit if they offered something more substantive than this low bar. 

But what? Rubin suggests a three-pronged framework. Democrats should: 

1. Push for significant education funding increases 
2. Pay teachers better and hold teacher-candidates in training to higher standards 
3. Decentralize more decision-making authority to school districts who are willing to draft innovative plans for reaching 鈥渢he goal of educational excellence, mastery of subject matter and parental satisfaction.鈥�

It鈥檚 a reasonable starting point. . Teacher pay is low, , and it hasn鈥檛 increased enough . U.S. teacher training programs are not particularly effective, when it comes to candidates to . 

The educational benefits of decentralization are less obvious: U.S. history is pretty clear that local control of schools often sustains inequities and fosters civil rights abuses. Absent top-down pressure to focus on equity, () decisionmakers regularly to decisions that are convenient, comfortable and bad for historically marginalized communities. 

Funding inequities generally thrive under . The erosion of federal pressure to integrate schools gave local authorities room to resegregate schools through , and other surreptitious changes. Combine these trends, and it鈥檚 easy to see how funding inequities are systemically racialized鈥攊t鈥檚 easier to underfund children of color鈥檚 educational opportunities when Black and brown children have been concentrated into segregated campuses. 

Still, there鈥檚 some promise in a governance approach along the lines that Rubin suggests: giving local authorities more room to innovate on process while holding them accountable for showing evidence of academic improvement. 

But wait. Does that idea sound familiar? It should. Arne Duncan, President Obama鈥檚 first secretary of education, as 鈥渢ight on goals, loose on means.鈥� This 鈥渢ight-loose鈥� approach is also a key facet of the public charter school model . 

This is the trouble with the opportunity that Rubin outlines: her 鈥渘ew鈥� education platform for Democrats sounds an awful lot like the () education reform movement. The playbook sounds a whole lot like Duncan鈥檚 old reform one: with tighter goals and more flexibility for how schools and districts reach them.聽

Same goes for Rubin鈥檚 push to raise teacher pay and standards鈥攖hat鈥檚 an echo of core reform initiatives like . And the reformers over at have been pushing to improve teacher preparation programs for years. 

Say it plain: that鈥檚 why Democrats will struggle to as a political issue. Even though education reform is politically stalled after a decade of criticism 鈥攁nd the utterly toxic embrace of and Donald Trump 鈥� there鈥檚 no alternative, actionable progressive slate of ideas to improve schools. 

It鈥檚 true that Democratic policymakers have some education policy ideas. and other blue places have launched models for community schools offering 鈥渨raparound鈥� social services like health, nutrition, dental and career-training services. Early education investments like universal pre-K remain popular with progressives (and several conservatives). 

But none of these progressive ideas provide a theory of action to address unfairness and dysfunction in K鈥�12 schools. They鈥檙e all 鈥淰ery Good Things鈥� with solid evidentiary support from prior studies (and support from reformers like Duncan and Rhee, incidentally). They just don鈥檛 address the core challenge of improving 鈥� you might even say, 鈥�reforming鈥濃�� the foundations of elementary and secondary education in the United States. 

Why is this so difficult? It鈥檚 partly because reform鈥檚 ideas aren鈥檛 as substantively useless as their political unpopularity suggests. For all the angry about standardized tests, for instance, they generate data that protect and provide key proof points for lawsuits identifying how states鈥� or districts鈥� school funding choices harm families of color. 

The real reason that progressives can鈥檛 quit reform, though, is that we haven鈥檛 yet figured out how to dissolve a core tension in our public education thinking. On the one hand, progressives have grown 鈥� correctly 鈥� suspicious of the structural biases built into public systems. On the other hand, progressives are prone to waxing nostalgic about the fragile, diminishing greatness of American public schools. Many of us tend to imagine that this system was, at some point before No Child Left Behind or Teach For America or the Reagan administration, etc., a shining exemplar of democratic investment in fairness and social mobility. 

This tension makes progressives stalwart defenders of public education as a concept, so much so that we generally resist efforts to substantially overhaul its governance as “attacks on public education.” But it鈥檚 also clear that the long history of American public education is saturated with examples of schools replicating and amplifying social inequities. Some of the most sacred elements of American public education have reliably served as toxic firewalls against progress towards racial justice in the United States. 

To move beyond education reform, progressives need to face this uncomfortable incoherence in our thinking. Our post-reform public education platform can鈥檛 just be about adding grades in the early years and enveloping K鈥�12 schools with more social services. Sure, public schools could use deeper resources and broader systems of support. But many of the central mechanisms of the K鈥�12 system are themselves unfair against communities of color, low-income families, linguistically diverse children and other historically marginalized groups. Schools won鈥檛 serve those students better without being made to do so. 

If Democrats want the political benefits of credibility on public education, they need to center, and solve for, those inequities. And if their best proposals for doing so keep circling back to education reform ideas, perhaps that鈥檚 a hint that they abandoned that movement too early. 

Dr. Conor P. Williams is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation and a partner at the Children’s Equity Project. He is also a working father with three kids. These views are his alone, and are not necessarily shared by his employers鈥攐r his kids.

State Republicans鈥� failure to reach agreement on the budget is 鈥渋nexcusable鈥� and 鈥渋rresponsible鈥� and will negatively impact North Carolina鈥檚 school children and educators, a group of Durham Democratic lawmakers said on Monday.

Durham鈥檚 legislative delegation took part in a series of statewide press conferences held to highlight the state of public schools as most students who attend traditional calendar schools prepare to return to classrooms. Thousands of year-round students are already in school.

The state budget is 45 days late and House Speaker Tim Moore has said lawmakers won鈥檛 likely have a budget in place until sometime after Labor Day, said Rep. Marcia Morey, a Durham Democrat.

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鈥淲eek after week this summer, we [Democrats] have been ready to go in and to do the work and to vote, but the Republican leadership has decided that their far away vacations and conferences are more important,鈥� Morey said 鈥淭his has got to stop.鈥�

Without a state budget, Morey said educators can鈥檛 budget personal finances. Gov. Roy Cooper鈥檚 budget proposal and House and Senate spending plans all contain teacher pay raises.

鈥淗ow do educators plan their own finances when they don鈥檛 know what their salaries will be?鈥� Morey said.

Durham鈥檚 legislative delegation was joined by several local school board members and educators during their morning press conference in downtown Durham. Similar events were scheduled throughout the state.

Rep. Zack Hawkins, a Duham Democrat, said that underfunded schools impact academic outcomes. Teachers must be paid well and given adequate resources to educate children, Hawkins said.

鈥淭hey [teachers] can鈥檛 bring to life science and math and all the things that they鈥檙e [children] are expected to learn, they can鈥檛 bring those things to life if they don鈥檛 have what they need,鈥� said Hawkins, a former teacher.

Sen. Mike Woodard, a Durham Democrat, said that the state鈥檚 Republican leadership continues to disinvest in public education.

鈥淭his General Assembly has continued now a dozen years of disinvestment in our public education system, whether it鈥檚 through vouchers, whether it鈥檚 through failing to invest in our capital needs or whether its failure to invest in our most important infrastructure in our schools, which is our people,鈥� said Woodard, who recently announced plans to run for Durham mayor.

Woodard said that expanding the school voucher program to allow access to the state鈥檚 wealthiest families will take more funding from public schools to hand over to largely unregulated private schools.

鈥淭hey [Republicans] forget to tell you when the talk about choice with their voucher program is how many tens of millions of dollars go unused,鈥� Woodard said. 鈥淔amilies aren鈥檛 using these things because what they realize is that vouchers sound good until you qualify for it and take it to a private school and find out that it only pays a small portion of the school鈥檚 tuition.鈥�

A family can receive up to nearly $7,000 to send a child to a private school under the income-based Opportunity Scholarship program.

Woodard criticized Republican leaders for their failure to adequately fund school capital needs, particularly in rural counties that lack the tax base to pay for building needs with local money.

鈥淐hildren cannot learn when their rooms are hot, cold, leaky or dirty,鈥� Woodard said.

The press conference comes two days before lawmakers return to Raleigh to take up several key pieces of controversial聽Republican-backed education legislation vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper.

Rep. Vernetta Alston, a Durham Democrat, said local teachers worry that they can鈥檛 afford to stay in the profession.

鈥淭hey say they simply can鈥檛 afford to stay in the career that they love and that staying requires them to take on more work and administrative roles than they were hired or trained to do in order to get the raises that they have already more than earned,鈥� Alston said.

Minnie Forte-Brown, a former Durham school board chairwoman, said that it鈥檚 clear that educating children is no longer a priority for North Carolina.

鈥淲e need to do something that shows people that if you don鈥檛 care about our children, we鈥檙e going to show you that you need to,鈥� Forte-Brown said. 鈥淭eachers in North Carolina have been at the bottom for so long that it doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥�

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The  passed 213 to 208, with five Republicans voting against it. 

鈥淭eachers unions and education bureaucrats worked to push progressive politics in classrooms while keeping parents in the dark,鈥� Rep. Virginia Foxx, chair of the House education committee, said during Thursday鈥檚 floor debate. 鈥淭he Bill of Rights 鈥ims to end that and shine a light on what is happening in schools.鈥�

But with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that it would face a 鈥渄ead end,鈥� the legislation is unlikely to get far in the Democratic-controlled Senate. 

House Democrats 鈥� who renamed it the 鈥減olitics over parents act鈥� 鈥� say the legislation duplicates existing policies and rights and would micromanage how local schools interact with families. 

鈥淭his legislation has nothing to do with parental involvement, parental engagement, parental empowerment,鈥� said Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. 鈥淚t has everything to do with jamming the extreme MAGA Republican ideology down the throats of the children and the parents of the United States of America.鈥�

For years, educators who work with families have longed for this level of national attention to the role parents play in their children鈥檚 education. But some experts called the Republican approach adversarial and heavy-handed. Republicans view parents rights as a cornerstone of their agenda and are expected to carry the issue into next year鈥檚 elections. Even if the House bill dies in the Senate, the debate likely won鈥檛.

Family engagement experts, meanwhile, say they鈥檙e hoping for a less-partisan discussion about building trust between educators and parents.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e creating bills that pit parents against teachers, kids lose,鈥� said Vito Borrello, executive director of the National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement. 

Democrats, he said, have sent the wrong message at times, pointing to former Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe鈥檚 that parents shouldn鈥檛 tell schools what to teach and the that educators know 鈥渂etter than anyone鈥� what students need. But the GOP legislation, he said, approaches parents rights from a 鈥渧igilante perspective.鈥�

Among other provisions, the bill would require schools to post curricula online, provide lists of all books and other reading materials in the library and notify parents of the affiliations of any outside speakers at school events. 

Prior to the vote, the House approved several amendments, including one that would make schools disclose when they eliminate any gifted and talented programs and another requiring educators to turn over videos or recordings of any 鈥渧iolent activity鈥� at school. Another stating that parents have a right to 鈥渢imely notice鈥� of a cyberattack against a school that could expose student or parent information received overwhelming support from both parties, passing 420 to 5.

But amendments that would have eliminated the Department of Education, sent Title I funds directly to families to use for private schools or homeschooling, and block grant education funding to the states failed. 

Dozens of education organizations, including AASA, The School Superintendents Association, the NAACP and The Education Trust, endorsed , led by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, that emphasized inclusion, high-quality schools and a well-rounded education. But the bill failed, 223 to 203, with one Democrat, Sharice Davids of Kansas, voting against. 

Charles Barone, vice president for K-12 policy at Democrats for Education Reform, said the Senate would likely let the bill GOP die and not try to negotiate a compromise. The question is whether passage of the bill gives Republicans momentum going into the election next year. 

鈥淎s a general election strategy, it’s pretty ill-advised,鈥� Barone said. 鈥淭here is a set of voters that buys their line of argument, but that set is pretty narrow. This is such an old playbook.鈥�

The Biden administration has already expressed its disapproval. 鈥淭he administration strongly supports actions that empower parents to engage with their children鈥檚 teachers and schools, like enabling parents to take time off to attend school meetings,鈥� the White House statement said. 鈥淟egislation should not politicize our children鈥檚 education. It should deliver the resources that schools and families actually need.鈥�

Gender identity provision

The administration鈥檚 statement drew attention to a provision that it said would make LGBTQ students feel less welcome. The legislation would require schools to get parental consent if a student wants to officially change their gender markers or pronouns or use facilities inconsistent with the sex they were assigned at birth. During the debate, Foxx clarified that the bill would not require counselors or teachers to 鈥渙ut鈥� students if they discuss such topics in confidence.

During the education committee鈥檚 mark-up of the bill March 8, several Democrats said not all trans students have supportive parents and that a 鈥渙ne-size-fits-all鈥� federal mandate could put already-vulnerable students at a greater risk. 

But Republican Tim Walberg of Michigan, who pushed for notification, said that informing parents of their child鈥檚 request would alert educators to potential maltreatment.

鈥淲hen a child goes on a field trip or fails a test 鈥� their parents are told and often required to sign some sort of acknowledgement,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hy should the small things require notification but something as significant as a child’s pronouns or a change in accommodations be withheld from the people who raise them care for them?鈥� 

Civil rights advocates argue that even if the bill fails in the Senate, the House鈥檚 move still harms trans students. 

鈥淢ore trans kids are going to wake up reminded that there are leaders in this country who don’t want them to be safe,鈥� said Liz King, senior director of the Education Equity Program at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

The GOP鈥檚 bill is inspired by laws that have already passed in several states, like , that allow parents to contest books used in school lessons and libraries and prevent discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the early grades. Gov. Ron DeSantis now plans to apply to all grades.

Melissa Erickson, executive director of Florida鈥檚 Alliance for Public Schools, said the laws are 鈥渆xacerbating the 鈥� and don鈥檛 reflect the concerns of most parents. She doesn鈥檛 see the need for a national version. 

鈥淚 thought education was left to the states,鈥� she said. 鈥淧arents have a right to be heard, but there is a difference between being heard and being accommodated.鈥�

This week鈥檚 events in the nation鈥檚 capital drew 75 representatives from the National Parents Union, who lobbied against the GOP bill and in favor of Bonamici鈥檚 amendment. They met with U.S. Department of Education officials and they visited every House member鈥檚 office. 

But their highlight was getting from New York Democratic Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who cited their

鈥淲e鈥檙e all gripping our seats,鈥� said National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues. 鈥淲hen we got up to leave, the Democrats stopped on the floor and waved at us. For these parents, it was a powerful moment.鈥�

If Speaker Kevin McCarthy agrees to their demands, that would wipe out most of the administration鈥檚 budget request for education, including a $2.2 billion increase for schools serving poor students and almost half a billion dollars to address student mental health needs.

With the slogan, 鈥渟hrink Washington and grow America,鈥� leaders of the said Friday they want to avoid hitting the 鈥� the limit on how much the federal government can borrow to pay its bills. They also propose to rescind COVID relief funds not yet scheduled to be spent. Biden鈥檚 budget, meanwhile, includes $90 billion for education, a 13.6% increase over fiscal year 2023.

鈥淲e are clearly a long way away from the finish line and middle ground,鈥� said Lindsay Fryer, president of Lodestone D.C., a Washington lobbying and consulting firm. 鈥淭alks of addressing the debt limit and overall budget levels are sure to add interesting dynamics to appropriations conversations that could prolong this [budget] process for quite a while.”

Even with Democrats controlling Congress during the first two years of his presidency, Biden wasn鈥檛 able to deliver on some of his major education proposals and negotiations stretched until December. But now he has to contend with a Republican majority that wants to scale back government spending 鈥� the question is how much. Republicans have just a five-vote advantage in the House, meaning that McCarthy 鈥� who didn鈥檛 become speaker until he bowed to concessions from the Freedom Caucus 鈥� will need their support to pass a budget through the chamber.

The administration, on the other hand, wants to raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit to avoid what most economists say would be a . In his budget last week, he pledged to reduce the national debt by $3 trillion with taxes on those earning over $400,000 million a year.

Despite the likely standoff later this year, advocates for schools and early learning programs were still generally pleased with Biden鈥檚 proposals.

鈥淚鈥檓 celebrating,鈥� Julie Kashen, director and senior fellow at The Century Foundation, said about the proposal for the to spend $600 billion over 10 years for child care and preschool. She called it 鈥渁 significant commitment to meeting the needs of children, families and communities.鈥�

The Department of Education鈥檚 budget also includes a new $500 million program to help school districts expand universal preschool for students eligible to attend Title I schools. 

Aaron Loewenberg, a senior policy analyst at New America, a left-leaning think tank, said he was encouraged by the proposal. But he鈥檚 also realistic about its prospects.

鈥淲ith a prolonged fight over the debt ceiling looming and House Republicans demanding billions of dollars in funding cuts,鈥� he said, 鈥渢he administration’s new pre-K proposal will have a hard time passing Congress.鈥� 

Biden wants to restore the expanded that was part of the American Rescue Plan 鈥� $3,000 for those 6 and older and $3,600 for younger children. U.S. Census data shows the monthly payments nearly in half in 2021, and that it helped them afford rent, groceries and school supplies.

Proposals for other major programs include: 

• $20.5 billion for Title I, a $2.2 billion increase over 2023
• $18.2 billion for special education, including grants for preschoolers, infants and toddlers
• $428 million to increase the number of counselors, school psychologists and social workers
• $368 million for community schools 鈥� more than double the $150 million in the 2023 budget
• $1.2 billion for English learners, including $90 million to increase teacher diversity by recruiting and training more multilingual educators 
• $178 million for the Office for Civil Rights, which last year saw a record number of

But the administration proposes to keep funding for grants to support new and expanding charter schools at $440 million 鈥� the same level since 2019.

That 鈥渁mounts to a cut鈥� when factoring in inflation, said John Bailey, an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation. 

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools wants to see funding bumped to $500 million. Enrollment in charters climbed 7% during the pandemic 鈥� 鈥渆vidence that parents were looking for something more and better for their children during a time of crisis,鈥� Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said in  

The president鈥檚 budget was also a 鈥渞eal disappointment鈥� to afterschool providers, Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, said in a statement. The budget keeps funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program at $1.3 billion, the same as last year. 

While the budget McCarthy ultimately proposes might not include cuts that are as deep as those proposed by the hardline Freedom Caucus, it鈥檚 unlikely to include a lot of increases for education either. 

As negotiations move forward, Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director for advocacy and governance at AASA, the School Superintendents Association, said she鈥檇 like to see Democrats prioritize the increase for special education. 

Others want to see the expanded child tax credit make it into the final budget.

鈥淚t prevented a lot of children and families from falling below the poverty line,鈥� said Cary Lou, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute. 

But with McCarthy already saying cuts to are 鈥渙ff the table,鈥� that means everything else, including funding for schools and children, is vulnerable, he said. McCarthy has signaled that he might not have ready for at least another month, adding to uncertainty over appropriations for next year, Lou said. 鈥淢ultiple unknowns make it a bit more of a high-wire act.鈥�

To some, the congressman from New York is a rising star in the party. But he鈥檚 no stranger to the charter school community. 

鈥淲e have been able to consistently rely on his support for a decade,鈥� said Nina Rees, CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

As his profile in the party has risen, however, Jeffries has grown less outspoken on the subject. Now responsible for uniting progressives and moderates, observers say he鈥檚 less likely to take a firm stance.

Jeffries probably won鈥檛 enthusiastically endorse charter schools because of the Democrats鈥� 鈥渘eed for teachers union support,鈥� said Ray Ankrum, superintendent of Riverhead Charter School on Long Island. But, 鈥渋f he goes on an Obama-like ascension 鈥� which it looks like he can 鈥� maybe he鈥檒l be more vocal for school choice.鈥�

The Brooklyn native鈥檚 transition to party leader comes at a pivotal moment for the charter community. Advocates and school operators say the Biden administration鈥檚 recent changes to a federal grant program for charters will hinder growth. A lawsuit challenging the public status of charter schools and a new openness toward religious charters in Oklahoma could further disrupt the sector. Advocates say they would welcome more public support, but still view Jeffries as an ally.

鈥淭o me, he gets it 鈥� what鈥檚 possible for people of color to start a school,鈥� said Yomika Bennett, executive director of the New York Charter Schools Association. 鈥淭o dust off an old term, there鈥檚 hope.鈥�

In 2014, Jeffries voted for to increase federal funding for charter schools. He visited schools in the Success Academy network and participated with CEO and founder Eva Moskowitz in a 2016 Brooklyn event where thousands rallied for the city to increase the number of charters.

鈥淓veryone in this city, every parent, every child, deserves to have an option, regardless of race, regardless of color, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of immigration status, regardless of ZIP code,鈥� he told the crowd.

And two years later, the Alliance honored him with one of its first #BringTheFunk awards for Black charter school advocates. Jeffries could not be reached for comment.

鈥楢n intra-party debate鈥�

But those examples seem to be part of the distant past.

David Houston, a George Mason University assistant professor, who studies the politics of education, isn鈥檛 surprised.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 shock me that Democratic elected officials 鈥� especially those who are appealing to a broader swath of their constituency 鈥� are going to downplay charters as a key pillar of their education platform,鈥� he said. 鈥淐harter schools were never wildly popular [with Democrats]. There鈥檚 always been an intra-party debate.鈥�

Charters enjoyed more bipartisan support prior to the Trump administration. President Barack Obama as 鈥渋ncubators of innovation鈥� and urged states to on the number allowed. 

The partisan gap in support for charters grew during the Trump years, Houston found, in part because Betsy DeVos, Trump鈥檚 education secretary, was a 鈥渞eviled figure on the left.鈥�

New charter rule

Recently, that tension resurfaced in the debate over the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 new rule for its . The update urges charters to partner with their local schools, requires more transparency in funding and expects operators to justify creating new charters when local public schools are under-enrolled. Department officials say their goal is to increase accountability and promote more racially diverse schools. 

But critics argued the changes will hamper the growth of smaller operators who predominantly serve Black and Hispanic students 鈥� even after the department revised some provisions after backlash from charter leaders.

Now chair of the education committee in the GOP-led House, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina said in a statement to 社区黑料 that she hopes Jeffries will 鈥渦rge his conference to support charter schools鈥� and help students by 鈥渆nding the Biden administration鈥檚 harmful anti-charter school rule.鈥�

Last May, some Democrats in the Senate might have agreed with her. 

Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Diane Feinstein of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey joined Republicans in telling Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that the rule 鈥� as it was originally written 鈥� would 鈥渁dd significant burdens and time to an already complex application process.鈥�

By the December vote in the Senate, however, the political winds had shifted. No Democrat voted to overturn it.

The updated requirements, in fact, could give pro-charter Democrats, like Jeffries 鈥渕ore freedom to support increased 鈥� funding,鈥� said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at the progressive Century Foundation. 

That鈥檚 because the rule requires charters to disclose any contracts with for-profit entities. Ankrum, the superintendent of the Long Island school, said he doesn鈥檛 view Jeffries as anti-charter 鈥� just being heavily involved in running them. 

鈥淭hat,鈥� he said, 鈥渟eems to be the new Democratic push.鈥�

For schools, the longest period in history with a 50-50 U.S. Senate will likely be remembered for one thing 鈥� Democrats鈥� passage of a massive COVID-relief bill that provided $122 billion in federal funds for K-12.

On March 4, 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris cast a key tie-breaking vote from the Senate dais that allowed the $1.9 trillion pandemic recovery passage to move forward.

鈥淣obody can use scarcity as an excuse,鈥� said Charles Barone, vice president of K-12 policy with Democrats for Education Reform, a think tank, and a former Democratic staffer in the Senate. 鈥淭here won鈥檛 be any other packages like that for at least another decade.鈥�

With new senators expected to be sworn in Tuesday, the Senate reaches the end of an era. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock鈥檚 in Georgia concluded only the fourth time in history that the Senate was evenly split between the two parties. And even though Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has officially to become an independent, the way she votes isn鈥檛 expected to change much. That shifts the balance to 51-49 for the Democrats. By many accounts, the Senate make-up has worked in . He scored wins with the American Rescue Plan and a key known as the Inflation Reduction Act. He鈥檚 also seated than any president since John Kennedy. 

But for those who latched onto Biden鈥檚 broad education agenda, the past two years have been bittersweet. Despite delivering an unprecedented windfall for pandemic recovery, Democrats had to sacrifice other education proposals, like two years of preschool and funds to rebuild aging school buildings.

At first, having Democrats in control of Congress and the White House 鈥済ave people enough hope that they aimed high and tried to shoot the moon,鈥� Barone said.  

But it wasn鈥檛 long before Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a fiscally conservative Democrat, put up roadblocks that forced Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and the rest of the party to scale back their ambitions. 

With a 50-50 Senate, there鈥檚 鈥渘o room for error,鈥� said Bethany Little, principal at EducationCounsel, a consulting firm.  

鈥淭he slightest change in the wind can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,鈥� she said. There was momentum for the party after Biden鈥檚 election, but once that sense of urgency waned, 鈥測ou couldn鈥檛 get some really big agenda items that Democrats have wanted for a long time.鈥�

Those included major increases in funding for child care and pre-K, two years of free community college and the extension of a higher child tax credit that data shows by almost 30%. Little called those proposals 鈥済enerational shifts that were all on the table at once.鈥�

After nearly a year of negotiations with Manchin and multiple rewrites, Biden鈥檚 so-called Build Back Better plan emerged as the Inflation Reduction Act, a shadow of the original package. It passed 51-50 on Aug. 7, with Harris breaking another tie.

The vice president was also called on to tip the balance in favor of Catherine Lhamon to lead the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights. Republicans opposed her confirmation because of positions on issues such as school discipline and transgender students鈥� rights they see as examples of government overreach.

鈥楾he holy grail鈥�

Advocates for federal spending on school construction were especially disappointed when dedicated funding to repair and rebuild schools was dropped from spending bills in an effort to win Manchin鈥檚 blessing.

鈥淭his country would absolutely have gotten help for its aged school buildings if we had had a Congress able to deliver good policy,鈥� said Mary Filardo,  executive director of the 21^st Century School Fund, which focuses on modernizing the nation鈥檚 schools.

Biden鈥檚 original included $100 billion for school construction and repairs. When Democrats cut that provision, Filardo and education groups hoped it would resurface in Build Back Better. That didn鈥檛 happen. 

鈥淪chool Infrastructure is like the holy grail,鈥� Barone said. 鈥淚t always seems within grasp, and then it isn鈥檛.鈥� 

The loss of a dedicated funding bill means many districts are now using American Rescue Plan funds for major facility upgrades.

Ironically, the Education Department frowns on those decisions, issuing last month that 鈥渟trongly discourages鈥� districts from using the money that way.

鈥楾he future of public policy making鈥�

Even though Manchin helped rein in progressives on a few of their big-ticket priorities, that didn鈥檛 stop the GOP from portraying Democrats as a party on a spending spree.

鈥淲hat the Democrats have done is extraordinarily harmful to the future of public policy making,鈥� said David Cleary, Republican staff director for the Senate education committee.

Both the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act were the result of budget reconciliation, a process that allows the party in charge to pass legislation without any votes from across the aisle. Those multi-billion-dollar packages 鈥渞uined the opportunity to come together,鈥� Cleary said.

The Biden administration, he said, has taken the same approach in pursuing policies and actions bound to annoy Republicans.

The Education Department鈥檚 effort to undo what Cleary called former Secretary Betsy DeVos鈥檚 鈥渃hef鈥檚 kiss perfect鈥� Title IX regulation is one example. Biden鈥檚 proposed rule would extend protections against sexual discrimination and harassment to transgender students and, Cleary argues, roll back due process rights for those accused of sexual misconduct.

He also called Biden鈥檚 plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower 鈥渁n abomination鈥� that further divides Republicans and Democrats and sends the message that 鈥渘o one ever has to pay for education.鈥� The U.S. Supreme Court the fate of the plan next month.

Even though Democrats still control the Senate, the Republican majority in the House will change the dynamic when both chambers get to work this winter. 

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, for example, could find himself facing increased scrutiny from the House education committee over issues such as districts鈥� spending of COVID relief funds.

鈥淭hey won鈥檛 be able to ignore [Republicans鈥橾 letters and hearing requests,鈥� Cleary said.

Legislatively, is expected to make much progress on their agendas. But that also means Sinema鈥檚 knack for 鈥� on issues such as infrastructure, and 鈥� could become more valuable if members want to get anything done. 

Following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, she used her relationships with Republicans to help Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina on gun control. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed by a vote of 65 to 33 and provides roughly $2 billion for safety improvements, school climate initiatives and student mental health services.

鈥淪he鈥檚 deeply committed to the Senate as an institution,鈥� Cleary said. 

Like his former boss, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Cleary said Sinema is willing to chip away at her 鈥渂ig vision鈥� with smaller victories. That sets her apart from members such as Vermont progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders and conservative Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Their style, he said, is more like: 鈥淚 want what I want. You can鈥檛 have anything, and why am I not winning?鈥�

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect figure for the size of a federal pandemic recovery package.

In a 4-3 ruling handed down Nov. 4, the North Carolina Supreme Court took the matter out of the legislature鈥檚 hands after almost 30 years of litigation and ordered officials to transfer the funds directly from the state treasury to agencies overseeing education and teacher preparation.  

鈥淔ar too many North Carolina schoolchildren, especially those historically marginalized, are not afforded their constitutional right to the opportunity to a sound basic education,鈥� Associate Justice Robin Hudson wrote in the majority opinion in Hoke County Board of Education v. North Carolina. The state, she said, 鈥渉as proven 鈥� for an entire generation 鈥� either unable or unwilling to fulfill its constitutional duty.鈥�

Part of a wave of lawsuits from the 1990s that challenged inequitable school funding systems, the case 鈥� first known as Leandro v. North Carolina 鈥� shed light on the lack of educational opportunities in five rural counties, where underqualified teachers, scarce supplies and outdated textbooks were the norm. The plaintiff districts argued that the state was responsible for making up the funding gap between poor and wealthy districts.

The case languished in the courts even as the state amassed a budget surplus following the Great Recession. Derek Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, said the ruling sends a signal to other states that legislators can鈥檛 ignore the law.

鈥淭he games that legislatures play are 鈥� wars on the right to education, wars on the constitution,鈥� said Black, who attended 鈥渕arathon鈥� hearings on the case when he was in law school at the University of North Carolina. 鈥淲hen the judiciary speaks, there is not some other option.鈥�

Republicans, who dominate the legislature, are already pushing back, and with the GOP gaining a 5-2 majority on the Supreme Court in last week鈥檚 election, some are floating the possibility of a reversal. 

鈥淧rediction: Not a dime of taxpayer money is ultimately spent on this unprecedented and unconstitutional order before it is blocked and reversed by a newly seated N.C. Supreme Court next year,鈥� Brent Woodcox, a Republican senior policy counsel for the North Carolina legislature. 

In his dissent in the case, Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. set the stage for a backlash. He wrote that the ruling 鈥渟trips鈥� the legislature of its authority over education policy and funding and amounts to 鈥減ernicious extension of judicial power.鈥�

But in the majority opinion, Hudson sought to limit the ruling鈥檚 scope, writing that it applies 鈥渋n exactly one circumstance鈥� 鈥� this case 鈥� and wouldn鈥檛 have been necessary if 鈥渞ecalcitrant state actors鈥� had addressed the funding inequities. 

Lawrence Picus, a school finance expert at the University of Southern California, said the closest example to this ruling he has seen is a 2015 order from the Washington Supreme Court that held the state legislature and issued a $100,000-a-day fine until lawmakers agreed on a way to adequately fund schools as mandated by the court鈥檚 opinion in .

That day didn鈥檛 come until June, 2018, when the court ruled that the state had increased the education budget enough to be in compliance. Penalties, which by that time had reached over $100 million, also went to schools. 

鈥淐ourts are generally extremely reluctant to order the legislature to do something,鈥� Picus said. 鈥淚n North Carolina, they鈥檙e doing it for them.鈥�

Funding the 鈥榬emedial鈥� plan

Originally named for Hoke County Schools student Robb Leandro and his mother, the North Carolina case began in 1994 when families from five rural districts sued the state and its board of education. The lack of well-qualified teachers, they argued, left students less likely than those in wealthier counties to be proficient in core subjects and to enter college without needing remediation. 

Despite the trial court siding with the plaintiffs year after year, lawmakers never complied with the orders and, following the Great Recession, cut education by a further 13.9% in per-student funding, according to . 

But then the financial picture improved 鈥� a lot 鈥� and this year, the state has a $6 billion surplus. 

A year ago, the trial court ordered the state to spend $1.7 billion to help fund an eight-year developed byWestEd, a consulting firm. The funds would cover teacher and principal training, revisions to the school funding formula and expansion of the state鈥檚 pre-K system. 

The state later passed a budget partially funding the plan, and the trial court revised the figure to $785 million. The Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling upholds that decision.

Republican House Speaker Tim Moore told local reporters the legislature the ruling, while attorneys with Parker Poe, a law firm that represents the plaintiffs, said that鈥檚 not an option.

鈥榃hether they agree with it or not鈥�

Like Black, Ann McColl has seen her law career intertwined with the Leandro saga. Co-founder of The Innovation Project, a school leadership network, she represented and wrote briefs in the case on behalf of educator and school board associations. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 always the case that people react to a court opinion, and see how they can maneuver around it,鈥� she said. But North Carolina lawmakers, she added, are showing a 鈥渃ertain vigor鈥� in their objections.

There’s a potential for the ruling to influence a school finance lawsuit in Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, an appellate court heard four months of testimony in that case, with attorneys for legislative leaders arguing that students don鈥檛 need to go to college if they鈥檙e on 聽The case is expected to make its way to the state supreme court.

Until now, Black added, the so-called 1989 鈥淩ose decision鈥� in Kentucky stood as the most forceful ruling in school finance. The state supreme court ruled that Kentucky鈥檚 entire education system was unconstitutional and of an adequate education.  

The North Carolina decision goes further by ruling that schools needn鈥檛 wait for lawmakers to act.

鈥淭he court just put down a flag post,鈥� Black said, 鈥渁nd every single court that grapples with this issue in the future will discuss this flag post, whether they agree with it or not.鈥�

While 82% of parents said they are very or extremely likely to vote in the election, just 14% called K-12 education a top concern 鈥� well below the economy (53%) and slightly behind abortion (21%) and health care (17%).

Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, the advocacy group that sponsored the poll, said the numbers reflect parents鈥� hunger for change.

鈥淲e have moved into a position where we鈥檙e not going to be ignored,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’ve seen too much.鈥�

, experts began seeing that parental outrage over closed schools, COVID protocols, and district handling of race and gender issues had given way to more immediate concerns about groceries and rent. While almost two-thirds of parents say the quality of their local schools still affects their family, 86% are more troubled by 鈥渢he rising cost of everyday purchases.鈥� 

鈥淚t’s understandable that inflation would dominate voter concerns since they encounter it every day,鈥� said John Bailey, an advisor to the Walton Family Foundation and a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. 鈥淭hese extra costs will crowd out other spending for the kids like afterschool programs and summer camps.鈥�

Just a third of parents said they know a lot about where House and Senate hopefuls stand on education. In fact, they鈥檝e heard less about schools than any other topic. 

That doesn鈥檛 mean that parents no longer care about politicians鈥� plans to improve schools. On poll questions related to education, Rodrigues noted that fewer parents are blaming the pandemic for low academic performance. They are more focused on fundamental questions about whether schools can prepare students for the future and deliver an adequate education. 

鈥淭he tide is turning,鈥� she said.

Sixty-two percent of parents said they are very or extremely concerned about schools鈥� ability to provide quality teaching and instruction, compared with 55% who feel that way about schools鈥� handling of learning loss. 

Congressional candidates might not be talking about education, but it鈥檚 still a prominent issue for gubernatorial candidates, with Republican incumbents such as Florida鈥檚 Ron DeSantis and Oklahoma鈥檚 Kevin Stitt blaming Democrats and their union supporters for long school closures, mask mandates and classroom lessons they say confuse students about race and gender. They鈥檝e sought to portray themselves as the party most concerned with parents鈥� rights. 

At least one organization is drawing attention to conservative policies some Republicans have proposed or supported, such as banning transgender students from participating in sports and restricting what students read in school. Last week, , a nonpartisan group, announced it鈥檚 spending $300,000 on ads in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri. 

The Pennsylvania ad focuses on a district banning books and the Missouri spot calls out a school board member for comments about transgender students and students with disabilities. But the Ohio ad denounces a bill that would require female athletes to undergo a genital inspection if they were suspected of being transgender. Following a backlash, lawmakers the language. The state board of education is also considering urging districts not to comply with the Biden administration鈥檚 plans to extend federal protections against discrimination and harassment to transgender students. 

鈥淎cross the country, families and students are being failed by extremist politicians who care more about pushing divisive culture wars than providing a high quality age-appropriate education,鈥� Heather Harding, the organization鈥檚 executive director, said in a statement.

鈥業ndifferent and unresponsive鈥�

The campaign was formed to combat efforts by groups such as Moms for Liberty and the 1776 Project PAC, which have mobilized to elect conservative school board members. And over the summer, polls suggested that Republicans were gaining an edge with voters on education. 

But this latest survey 鈥� based on a sample of 1,022 registered voters with school-age children 鈥� shows Democrats could be regaining voters鈥� trust as the disruptions of the pandemic slowly fade.

Forty-one percent of respondents said they have more faith in Democrats to handle the challenges facing K-12 schools, compared to 29% who chose Republicans. Rodrigues said those earlier polls didn鈥檛 focus specifically on parents. Even if they don鈥檛 always approve Democrats鈥� decisions, if the question is who parents think can 鈥渢ake us into the future on education, Democrats still have that lead,鈥� she said.

The overall sample of parents leans to the left, with 51% saying they would probably or definitely vote for Democrats and 40% choosing Republicans. 

But a year ago, that might have been different, Bailey said. 

鈥淭his time last year, parents were still juggling school quarantines, which in some ways were more disruptive than school closures,鈥� he said. Either way, a 鈥渃ommon theme is that parents are frustrated by a system they think is indifferent and unresponsive to their needs.鈥�

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to .

At a hosted by the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, DeSantis pointed to recent dismal national test scores as vindication for his decision to fully reopen schools in the fall of 2020. He touted his parental rights agenda and defended his opposition to mask mandates and quarantines for children who weren鈥檛 sick.

鈥淭he way different places handled COVID is going to reverberate in terms of the educational outcomes for these kids for quite some time,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e got the big issues right. Unfortunately, a lot of places around the country got the big issues wrong.鈥�

The event coincided with the release of a new , which ranks Florida as first in the nation for school choice, transparency on education and the extent to which it keeps 鈥渙verburdensome鈥� regulations to a minimum. But as with recent appearances in and , the events also offered an opportunity to position DeSantis, who is running for reelection against Democrat Charlie Crist, as a potential national candidate. 

鈥淵ou can stand for regular people, and we can beat these elites,鈥� he said, acknowledging the 鈥渂lowback鈥� he faced from teachers unions for requiring schools to be open five days a week. 鈥淚鈥檒l take the arrows. That鈥檚 what a leader does.鈥�

In the , DeSantis has at least a 5 percentage point lead over Crist. Critics say his policies defy Republicans鈥� preference for local control, and he鈥檚 facing a federal lawsuit over a new law that limits what teachers and college professors can say about race and gender in the classroom. 

DeSantis-backed school board candidates picked up seats across Florida in last month鈥檚 primary. But Corey DeAngelis, a speaker at the event and a senior fellow at the conservative American Federation for Children, said the anti-union message resonates beyond Florida.

He pointed to the defeat of nine out of 10 in the Republican primary who were backed by the Tennessee Education Association. 

鈥淐oming out against parental rights in education is becoming a form of political suicide,鈥� he said, citing Democrat Terry McAuliffe鈥檚 statement in last year鈥檚 Virginia governor鈥檚 race that he didn鈥檛 think 鈥減arents should be telling schools what to teach.鈥� Many observers link that comment to his defeat by Republican Glenn Youngkin.

鈥楶olitical games鈥�

McAuliffe during that campaign for having American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten join him at a rally. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped some Democratic candidates from giving the teachers unions even more visibility this year. 

In Florida, Crist chose United Teachers of Dade President as his running mate. And in Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, in a tight race against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz for a Senate seat, said if he wins, would be to the teachers unions.

Democrats are divided over whether President Joe Biden鈥檚 could lift their chances at the polls in November. But some, like Nevada incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, running against Republican Adam Laxalt, on passage of the American Rescue Plan, which included $122 billion for K-12. 

Heather Harding, executive director of the Campaign for Our Shared Future, is among those trying to redirect the conversation on education away from culture wars. Funded by organizations that , the nonprofit is organizing parents and educators to counter conservative activist groups like Moms for Liberty.

“Many politicians across the country are manufacturing controversies and outrage for their own personal gain,鈥� Harding said in an email, without naming DeSantis specifically. 鈥淭heir political games are hurting our children’s education and futures.鈥�

The left-leaning Network for Public Education issued its own earlier this year, ranking states on their 鈥渞esistance to the privatization of public education.鈥� Nebraska and North Dakota, which have neither voucher programs nor charter school laws, both received an A+.

By contrast, the Heritage Foundation鈥檚 new tool measures education policies that matter most to conservatives. States received more points if they support alternative teacher licensing programs and dropped Common Core standards. They ranked lower, however, if they have a lot of districts with diversity officers, which according to their , 鈥減rovide political support and organization to one side of the debate over the contentious issues of race and opportunity.鈥�

The report card builds on earlier efforts 鈥� from groups like and the conservative 鈥� to identify states with more choice-friendly features at a time when the movement to give families more options has picked up momentum.

Arizona, which came in second in the report card, recently opened up its to any family. Proponents of expanded choice want to see public education funds 鈥渇ollow the child鈥� into whatever school, public or private, the parent chooses.

鈥淚f you like your public school, you can keep your public school,鈥� DeAngelis said, offering a twist on the motto former President Barack Obama used to promote the Affordable Care Act. 鈥淚 think we’re going to look back in a couple of decades 鈥� and think it was just absolutely ridiculous that we forced families to take their kids鈥� education dollars to residentially assigned government-run institutions.鈥�