Protecting failing schools and supporting teachers unions is not a winnable strategy, CEO warns

American Federation for Children CEO Tommy Schultz argues that Democrats risk losing support by opposing school choice while aligning with teachers’ unions and underperforming public schools. He says unions offer voters little beyond blocking alternatives, while supporters of school choice present a more active education agenda.

Teachers’ unions say vouchers and education savings accounts divert public money from public schools, where it could support salaries, staffing and buildings. Schultz says the two national unions and their affiliates bring in about $3 billion a year; meanwhile, Texas’s new governor, Gina Hinojosa, has signalled opposition to the state’s voucher programme, which began with a $1 billion allocation. The article also cites pandemic-era learning loss and falling enrolment in some large urban districts as factors in tensions over school choice.