Unlikely allies

State Rep. Jason Hughes hadn’t planned to go viral. The New Orleans Democrat earlier this year put on his trademark plaid blazer— and his political career on the line—during a contentious battle over a bill that would make school choice available to every kid in Louisiana. Most of Hughes’ fellow Democrats toe the party line: State funding should go only to public schools. But Hughes doesn’t think his state’s schools have earned that kind of unquestioning support.

“Respectfully, I can’t close my eyes to the 67 percent of third graders in public schools who cannot read,” he said.

This past spring, Hughes spoke from the podium to the full membership of the Louisiana state legislature. In a gesture-laden statement that burned up the internet, he said he understood the political ramifications of his decision to back school choice but was standing on principle: “I don’t need this $16,800-a-year job bad enough to watch our children continue to live in poverty and trapped in failing schools, and not try to do something.”

Hughes is one of six Democratic state representatives who broke ranks to help pass that universal school choice measure in Louisiana. And they’re not the only ones crossing the aisle on what has been, to this point, a solidly Republican issue. Despite ferocious opposition from teachers unions and public school champions, Democrats across the country are starting to acknowledge the benefits of giving parents more control over their children’s education.

And in a strange turnabout, some of the biggest roadblocks Republican school choice advocates now face are put up by the most conservative factions of their own party—factions that aren’t giving up without a very big fight.

Case in point: Texas, a deep-red state where the fight over private school choice is tearing the Republican Party apart. Thirty-one states have some form of school choice legislation in place. Twelve have state-funded education savings accounts (ESAs) similar to those proposed in Texas. But school choice advocates in the Lone Star State have tried and failed for years to get their plans passed. Even Gov. Greg Abbott, who made school choice legislation a priority during the last two biennial legislative sessions, has failed to get any measure through the Texas House, despite calling two special sessions for that purpose last year.

This year, the Republican governor declared political war on 21 school choice opponents in his own party whose votes are standing in his way. Many of them are from rural, conservative districts.

Abbott and his political allies targeted those opponents in the primary election, using money from the governor’s own war chest, including $6 million from Pennsylvania billionaire and school choice supporter Jeff Yass. Of those 21 Republicans, five opted not to run for reelection, and pro-school-choice candidates took their seats. Six lost their seats in the initial round of primary voting in March. After runoff elections in May, Abbott declared he had the votes he needed to push his measure through the legislature.

“While we did not win every race we fought in, the overall message from this year’s primaries is clear: Texans want school choice,” Abbott said.

Polls suggest he’s right. The fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in public schools and led many parents to seek alternative forms of education. According to Texas Education Agency data, 25,000 students currently withdraw from public schools to homeschool each year. That number doesn’t include large numbers of students who move to private or charter schools. A 2023 University of Houston poll showed 47 percent of respondents, across party lines, supported giving “all parents” state-funded education vouchers, while only 28 percent were opposed.

Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans Matthew Perschall/Louisiana Illuminator

SINCE 2021, 12 STATES HAVE EXPANDED or ­instituted universal or near-universal school choice programs. Others, like Wisconsin, have increased funding for existing programs. More are on the cusp of joining the movement.

Proponents call it a red-state wave because Republican states are driving the changes. But in several places, Democrats have jumped in, too. In Wisconsin, school choice is officially a bipartisan issue—and a boon to the minority students who fill the classrooms at Milwaukee Lutheran High School. They live in failing school districts, and most would not have had an alternative if not for Wisconsin’s state-funded school choice program. Families opting in are emblematic of an increasing nationwide demand for parental choice in education.

Corey DeAngelis, a policy analyst with American Federation for Children, says the school choice movement’s momentum means there’s now a new barometer of success: whether school choice is universal, meaning every child is eligible. “We don’t restrict access to public schools based on income; we shouldn’t restrict access to school choice based on income, either,” DeAngelis says. No family should have to pay twice—once through taxes, then once out of pocket for their preferred school—he argues.

But he’s quick to add that any expansion of school choice is a step in the right direction, even when it’s limited to low-income families. Often, that’s the needed incentive for reticent Democrats to get on board.

Wisconsin’s voucher system is the oldest in the nation, but it isn’t universal. Since its inception in 1990 as the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, it has expanded to include nearly 55,000 low-income and special needs students. Through the program they may choose to attend religious schools like Milwaukee Lutheran, where nearly 100 percent of students use vouchers.

Last year, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, became an unlikely advocate for the program. Undeterred by opposition from teachers unions and in part to trade political favors with Republicans, Evers signed a budget bill that expanded funding for the plan. Experts say it could increase private school voucher enrollment by 40 percent. It also brings per-student voucher dollars closer to the amount spent per public school student.

In December, under pressure from bipartisan constituents who want parental choice, Evers defied the teachers unions again. He asked the state’s liberal-leaning Supreme Court to reject a challenge to the voucher program by a progressive super PAC. A number of Democratic state politicians agreed with Evers’ request, as did the justices.

Private School Choice

Source: EdChoice Illustration by Krieg Barrie

ALTHOUGH THERE’S NO BLUE TSUNAMI on the horizon, Wisconsin isn’t the only state where Democrats are catching on to what parents want, says Joey Magaña, a vice president with EdChoice.

“Democrats are getting more courageous because they know constituents, especially those in awful districts with failing schools, want it,” Magaña says.

In Georgia, state Rep. Mesha Mainor, a lifelong Democrat, left her party and became a Republican last year because she was so unhappy with Democrats’ rejection of school choice for students. “Ninety-seven, 98 percent can’t read or do math, yet some of our colleagues want to tell you that’s OK,” she said. Her decision was critical. Earlier this year, the Georgia House passed—by one vote—a bill that created school choice options for families with kids in the bottom quartile of the state’s public schools. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed it in April.

“It may not be universal,” Magaña says. “But for Georgia, it’s a great start in the right direction.”

Also last year, in Oklahoma, Democratic state Rep. Ajay Pittman, whose district encompasses both impoverished and wealthy families, backed the state’s universal school choice legislation. A Seminole Native American, Pittman, 30, calls herself a product of school choice. Growing up, she attended Oklahoma public, charter, and private schools and a Connecticut prep school. “My decision to support school choice is not rhetoric or partisan,” she said. “I’m a Democrat who supports what’s best for my community no matter who brings the idea to the table.”

Pittman says she’s frustrated by teachers unions opposing better alternatives for “her babies,” as she calls students in her district: “They want all the funding to go to public education, but they don’t want to modernize it or make it more equitable.” Competition, she asserts, forces public schools to become better.

Jorge Elorza, CEO of Democrats for Education, has criticized his party and the Biden administration for not acknowledging that choice resonates with families and voters, though he recommends expanding only public school options. But teachers unions, from whom Democrats have historically taken marching orders on education, continue to oppose charter schools as well as private education choice. They say these options siphon money from public school teachers’ salaries, facilities, and hiring more teachers.

DeAngelis, with American Federation for Children, is thrilled when Democrats back education options, regardless of motivation. He notes Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro began endorsing school choice after a Republican challenger called him a hypocrite in 2022 because he went to a private school himself. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also a Democrat, defended low-income private school choice—a program he’d vowed to eliminate in 2017—weeks before his last election, though he later remained silent when Democrats killed it.

“It doesn’t matter why they’re supporting it—it’s becoming politically beneficial,” DeAngelis says.

Students walk the hallway while changing classes at Milwaukee Lutheran High School. Photo by Jeffrey Phelps/Genesis

FAILING PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE helped drive support for school choice in places like Wisconsin. That’s why Shannon Whitworth teaches leadership skills in Milwaukee Lutheran High School’s Free Enterprise Academy. He’s an attorney and self-described former hard-core liberal. But he says reality slapped him in the face when he began to perceive that much of what he’d been told by the left was either incorrect or lies.

“There’s a significant power block invested in keeping our young black people addicted, uneducated, poor, and without hope, because those factors create dependency,” says Whitworth, who is black. “It’s that dependency upon which the left’s power is derived.”

That realization drove him to teach. He says he wants his students to know their lives aren’t predetermined—they can succeed. “And that’s why their parents want them here,” he adds.

Carmelo Joseph is a senior at Milwaukee Lutheran. He says if he hadn’t made the switch to the private school, he’d probably be on the streets, involved in “drugs, and guns, and stuff.”

Now he describes himself as a Christian rapper and songwriter, thanks to teacher Josh Atkinson. (Students call him ATK.) Atkinson helps students produce Christian rap in the school studio. That’s part of the effort to meet students where they are, Interim Principal John Buetow said. The school’s other goals: love students, reinforce Christianity in every class, ­provide a safe environment, and emphasize strong academics.

Joseph uses rap to tell his friends who don’t go to the school about Jesus. “I spread the Word of God in different ways,” he laughs, going on to share some lines he wrote: “I’m trying to get my feelings out / I’ve chosen You without a doubt.”

Buetow admits school choice benefits the school as much as the students. “We wouldn’t exist today, if it weren’t for the program,” he says. The 121-year-old school—owned by Missouri Synod congregations—had to find new ways to thrive when some supporting churches closed and community demographics changed.

Whitworth says the faculty at Milwaukee Lutheran understands the importance of its mission: “This school is transformative for our students. One mom told us it was quite literally a matter of life and death. School choice is giving students life.”

Carmelo Joseph sings in the recording studio at Milwaukee Lutheran High School. Photo by Jeffrey Phelps/Genesis

Loyal opposition

While school choice advocates have had some success with Democrats, they continue to face stiff opposition from pockets of otherwise reliably conservative voters. In Texas, the fight over Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) has split the usually tight-knit homeschool community.

Anita Scott, policy director of the Texas Home School Coalition, supports the ESA proposal. The program would prioritize opt-ins from families with low incomes or disabled children. Homeschoolers would receive $1,000 a year per child, while ESAs for private school use would likely receive more funding, since private education costs more. Parents who opt in to the program would have to receive approval for each use of the allotted money.

“It’s not a debit card,” Scott said, addressing one of the frequent criticisms of ESA programs. Under Texas’ proposal, the state would act like a bank, transferring money for approved purchases directly to vendors. Scott says her organization supports the program because it worked with lawmakers to ensure legal protections for home­schooling are included in the bill’s language.

But taking the money could come with strings: Homeschoolers who apply for ESAs may be required to take a national reference test, which is not something Texas homeschoolers currently have to do. That’s exactly the kind of government interference many other homeschoolers fear.

Jim Mason is president of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), an organization founded in 1983 to provide legal help to home­schoolers at a time when educating children at home was “virtually unheard of.” Mason said back then people were discouraged from opting out of state-funded schools, pushback that fostered “habits of liberty” among the few who dared to swim against the current. Homeschool families learned to depend on themselves and on each other instead of looking to the government for help.

Homeschooling isn’t a fringe movement anymore. But Mason said the same spirit of independence and neighborliness—something he refers to as “civic virtue”—lives on. And he fears government funding will undermine that. “When large sums of tax money are infused into that ecosystem, it turns people away from self-reliance and reliance on each other to looking to the state for the ­funding,” he said.

HSLDA objects to calling a government education fund a “savings account” because “it’s not really a savings account in the traditional sense,” Mason said. “It’s really a distribution of tax-financed education money.” He said that’s likely to cause education inflation problems down the road: “Eventually, there’s going to be a bill to pay.”

Homeschoolers in Washington state work on their lessons. Associated Press/Photo by Ted S. Warren

Another major concern: Government regulation tends to follow government money. “With the shekels come the shackles,” said Robert Bortins, CEO of the Christian homeschool program Classical Conversations. Bortins said he disagrees with school choice on the grounds that “whoever is funding something gets to decide how it gets done.”

Just because a legislature originally passes a school choice bill with “no strings attached” is no guarantee things will continue that way, Bortins said. “Maybe you have a conservative Christian type of general assembly today, and this becomes a liberal leftist general assembly two years from now.”

“Then they start saying, ‘Hey, you’re not going to get funding if you don’t teach DEI or ESG or whatever the flavor of the month is.” Conservatives need to be consistent in their principles, Bortins added. Across the board they are against universal income, healthcare, and housing, “But for some reason, we’ve been misled and believe that universal basic education income, or school choice, is OK.” —G.S.

Students in Kentucky transfer buses. Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal via AP

Public defenders

Texas homeschoolers who oppose school choice are finding allies among their ideological opposites: staunch public school supporters.

Many rural Texans oppose Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) because they typically have few private school options and rely on public schools as a center of community. The legislation Gov. Greg Abbott backed last session would add $6 billion in public school funding. But since school funding is tied to attendance rates, individual schools may not receive more funding if ESAs allow some of their students to leave.

Suburban parents in highly rated school districts oppose the legislation for the same reason. Sarah Lernor, whose children attend public school in the Pearland Independent School District, said any loss of school funding is a problem because public schools are the only option for many lower-income families. She also raised concerns that ESA funding in other states is used ­primarily to subsidize the education of children already in private schools. She compared ESA funding to “everybody pitching in for money, so that you can buy your neighbor cable, when you have basic TV. … [Private school students] are already at a place where they have more resources.”

But according to Mandy Drogin, campaign director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, school choice legislation can actually benefit both public schools and students using ESAs. She pointed to Florida as an example. After the state passed a school-choice program for low-income students in 2002, NAEP assessment scores for both public and private schools jumped from 33rd to 1st in the nation.

“The public education system realized they had to be responsive to the parents who wanted their children to have a great education, and not the unions and outside special interests or profiteers,” Drogin said.

Greg Abbott Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP

Anita Scott, with the pro-ESA Texas Home School Coalition, said the results from the 12 other states that have already passed similar programs should alleviate concerns from both public school and home­school advocates. In each state, less than 5 percent of households opted to use ESAs—meaning no huge changes for public school districts.

She also dismissed fears about government overreach: “There has never been an increase of government regulation as it pertains to home­schooling and private school in any of those states.”

But Charles Johnson, president of Texas Pastors for Children, a group that opposes school choice legislation, said that’s not the case. Johnson pointed to a February ruling from the Maine Supreme Court that said religious schools that accept taxpayer-funded vouchers must abide by the Maine Human Rights Act, including the provisions that prohibit ­discrimination on the basis of sexual ­orientation. That ruling likely will be appealed.

Johnson also believes funding public education is a moral issue. “Even if families have their children in private schools, they still have an obligation to educate their neighbors; … the common good, the social order, depends on that kind of universal education.”

But Drogin said it’s more important to put resources in the hands of parents, who are most likely to act in the best interests of their child: “Parents need to be in charge. The state should not be dictating where a child receives an education, particularly if it’s a failing education.” —E.R.

This story has been updated to clarify the position of the Texas Home School  Coalition.