Democrats & Teachers’ Union Bosses Block Education Freedom for Millions

The Working Families Tax Cuts bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law last year, creates a new scholarship tax-credit program that could unlock greater educational freedom for millions of families. The catch? States have to opt in – and at least 19 Democrat-led states, at the urging of teachers’ union bosses, are denying students this potentially life-changing opportunity.

Under the new program, which begins January 1, 2027, taxpayers can receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 annually for donations to approved nonprofit Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). Those organizations then award scholarships to eligible K–12 students for expenses such as private or religious school tuition, tutoring, books, supplies, and other educational costs. Eligibility is limited to students from households earning no more than 300 percent of their area’s median income.

In short, it’s a win-win: students and families get greater access to tutoring and school choice, while generous Americans get tax breaks for their donations – all without taking money from existing public-school budgets or requiring participating states to spend additional funds.

Former Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin has led the charge as of late in pressuring Democrat states to join the program. Youngkin was notably the first governor in the nation to formally complete the federal opt-in process – but new Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger may withdraw from the program, as AMAC Newsline previously reported.

Youngkin has warned through his new group, Empowering America’s Parents, that teachers unions are behind the decisions of many Democrat governors to opt out of the program.

“The primary opposition comes from the teachers’ unions, because they don’t want to see anything damage the monopoly hold that they have on education today,” Youngkin said recently, adding that the credit “provides opportunities for private school tuition for families that otherwise couldn’t afford it.”

Youngkin, who in 2021 became the first Republican to win statewide in Virginia since 2009, was swept to victory on a wave of parental backlash to progressive ideology running rampant in public schools.

As Youngkin has also pointed out, if teachers’ union bosses actually had the best interests of students in mind, they would support the measure since it provides “funds and scholarships for students in public schools.” Their opposition exposes that their primary concern is keeping families trapped in failing public schools rather than improving the quality of education.

Around 90 percent of American students – 52 million children – are eligible to benefit from the program, according to the American Federation for Children, which supports the tax credits.

According to a White House tracker, 30 states have opted into the program – a number that includes Colorado, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas, which all have Democrat governors. (North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas, however, have Republican legislatures that have played a major role in ensuring access for their states.) New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul has also announced her intention to opt in to the program, but has not officially done so.

In Hawaii, Democrat Governor Josh Green has so far declined to opt in amid pressure from one of his party’s most powerful constituencies. As the Honolulu Civil Beat reports, “the use of taxpayer dollars to support private schools could anger a politically powerful group that has backed Green’s political campaigns: the union that represents public school teachers.”

Parents and Republican leaders support the initiative, which would free up private money to help students. But the Hawaii State Teachers Association opposes it, putting pressure on Green to side with a powerful political ally rather than give families another educational option.

Even left-leaning Politico acknowledged the political reality behind Democrat opposition to what amounts to billions of dollars in funding for education: “teachers’ unions hate it.”

That helps explain why Democrat presidential hopefuls have been eager to reject the program rather than risk angering a major source of campaign donations, volunteers, and political muscle.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore, for instance, called the federal credit a “tax scheme” that “takes public funding and steers it towards private schools” while speaking to supporters at the American Federation of Teachers, Politico reported.

But the program does not take a single dollar from existing public-school budgets. It instead provides a federal tax credit to individuals who voluntarily donate their own money to scholarship organizations.

Powerful teachers’ union boss Randi Weingarten has argued that even if public school students benefit from the credit, private schools could benefit more, potentially putting public-school funding streams at risk. This gets to the heart of the unions’ opposition. If families have the financial ability to leave a public school they believe is failing their child, some will. Teachers’ unions therefore have a powerful incentive to oppose programs that could weaken their near-monopoly over K–12 education.

Democrats, meanwhile, rely heavily on union leaders to direct political spending their way. They also rely on union members to vote, knock on doors, and turn out other voters. Democrat governors consequently face intense pressure not to cross teachers’ unions, particularly those with national political ambitions.

The irony is difficult to miss. Unions and elected Democrats routinely complain that education needs more money and that wealthy Americans do not pay their fair share. Yet when a program could inject as much as $24 billion in private donations into education, many of those same voices are leading the charge to block it.

The Education Freedom Tax Credit offers families a lifeline not only from failing schools, but from a system in which teachers’ unions have long wielded enormous political power. Democrat governors should do the right thing and put the interests of students and families ahead of partisan teachers’ union leaders.