Can Democrats Resist the Urge To Deny Families Choice in Education?
Americans love education freedom, but Democrats are under pressure to limit alternatives.
In our ridiculous two-party political system, ejecting one awful party from office requires enduring the other. With neither party especially friendly to liberty—often hostile in many cases—that entails some unfortunate consequences after the massive losses suffered by Republicans in the midterms and corresponding Democrat gains. Unless the victors reconsider deep-rooted positions, one area where we're likely to suffer post-election loss of liberty is in matters of school choice.
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Newly Elected and Ready To Limit Education Freedom
In Texas, Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa promised supporters that "we will work tirelessly to repair the damage of the Texas voucher scam, and end an era in which our schools are sold for parts."
The "Texas voucher scam" which Hinojosa referred to is the state's 2025 adoption of education savings accounts (ESA), which went into effect this school year. Students can use a portion of the education funding allocated to them to pay for alternatives to the often rigid and low-quality public schools. "Most participants will receive an account value of around $10,500 ($30,000 for students with special needs). Homeschooled students may participate, but their accounts are capped at $2,000," according to EdChoice.
The Texas Education Agency notes that per-student funding in the state is a bit more than $15,000. The ESA program offers savings for taxpayers as well as expanded options for participating families who want to escape the government schools but don't have the means to pay tuition and other costs on top of the taxes they're forced to surrender to the state government.
This isn't an unusual experiment for the Lone Star State. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that "eighteen states have established ESA programs. Two states have multiple ESA programs: Florida has two programs and Tennessee has three programs."
ESAs aren't just popular with lawmakers; families like them too. According to the Texas state government, "over 100,000 awards have been made" in the first year of the program's existence.
ESAs are also popular in Arizona, where the state Department of Education reports that 109,762 students currently participate in a program that was launched in 2011.
"About two-thirds (65%) of ESA students have scholarships between $7,000 and $8,000, while students with special needs receive significantly more depending on their specific disabilities," EdChoice notes of the Grand Canyon State program. Yet Gov. Katie Hobbs, whose Democrats just gained full control of the state legislature, promises to renew efforts to deny choice to families and children.
"In her first State of the State speech in 2023, she sought to repeal universal vouchers entirely," Capitol Media Services reported when Hobbs attacked ESAs after this week's elections. When that failed, she attempted tactics including "means-testing of families: denying vouchers to children in homes where parents make more than $200,000 a year. And she sought greater oversight of purchases made by parents who home-school their children."
School Choice Is Supported by Few Democrats but Most Americans.
Unfortunately, this is typical. For many years, school choice has been a largely partisan issue, with Republicans supporting options for families while Democrats seek to corral kids into government schools and restrict alternatives.
There are exceptions. As mayor of Newark, Sen. Cory Booker (D–N.J.) championed publicly funded, privately run charter schools. A presidential hopeful in 2019, Booker chastised fellow partisans, writing "the treatment by many Democratic politicians of high-performing public charter schools as boogeymen has undermined the fact that many of these schools are serving low-income urban children across the country in ways that are inclusive, equitable, publicly accountable and locally driven."
Unfortunately, while some Democrats have warmed to the idea of choice in education, too many, like Hobbs and Hinojosa, are dead set against letting families spurn state-run institutions in favor of private alternatives and DIY educational approaches.
Polling by EdChoice finds 59 percent of Americans support school vouchers, 63 percent favor charter schools, and 67 percent like ESAs. The numbers are higher among parents of school-age children.
In Texas, 66 percent of adults and 76 percent of parents favor ESAs, almost identical to Arizona numbers.
Yet the highest ranked Democrats in these states immediately attacked these popular programs as soon as they saw an opportunity for pushing their preferred policies. The hostility to education freedom clearly is divorced from popular support and instead a matter of doctrine that is almost a litmus test for political identity on the left. It's a piece of unpopular anti-freedom ideology too many Democrats stick to even as they celebrate election victories fueled by Republican alienation of millions of voters.
"A system of school choice where 'the money follows the child' is one of the most powerful student-centered levers available, and it can help reinvent American education," argues Jorge Elorza of Democrats for Education Reform. "Progressives who continue to ignore this powerful tool are failing to embrace a 21st-century vision of public education, and they are denying students the academic and civic benefits that follow."
Democrats Face a Test on Federal Tax Credits
In January of 2027, the federal government's Education Freedom Tax Credits will go into effect. They offer "up to $1,700 per individual (up to $3,400 for married couples filing jointly) for qualified cash contributions to a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO)." SGOs provide scholarships that students can use to pay education expenses much in the style of ESAs and existing state tax credit programs.
According to BallotPedia, "32 states had indicated that they would participate in the program." Most were under GOP control. Democratic Govs. Jared Polis of Colorado, Kathy Hochul of New York, and Michelle Lujan Grisham opted in. Lawmakers in Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina overrode Democratic governors' vetoes to ensure their states' participation in the tax credit program.
Senate Democrats, even before the midterms, introduced a bill to repeal federal tax credits. According to Politico's Mackenzie Wilkes, Democrats oppose the program because "teachers unions hate it" and that powerful constituency wants to keep its captive audience of students in public schools.
Wilkes adds that "governors are also under pressure from parents who want the funds, which they can use to get extra help with their children's education or allow students to attend the school of their choice."
The question for Democrats, who just won an election because Republicans ignored voters' concerns, is whether they want to cater to a party constituency that seeks to trap children in government schools or else serve those children and the voters who overwhelmingly support school choice.
