Since the beginning of the 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden made it clear that he was running to the left of former President Barack Obama. On every issue, from taxes to the Green New Deal, Biden has wrapped his arms around the radical leftist wing of the Democratic Party.
And while voters are seemingly more focused on personalities as opposed to policies this election season, there is one stance that could cost Biden and Harris as well as other Democrats the election: opposition to parental school choice.
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Biden can’t seem to remember his position on issues ranging from his mask mandate to free trade. But he has been crystal clear on his opposition to school choice from the beginning. According to the Unity Task Force policy paper issued by the Biden campaign and his surrogates, Biden will “oppose any and all voucher and neo-voucher programs such as Education Savings Accounts and Tax-credit Scholarship programs.”
Biden himself has voiced equally strong words in speeches and interviews. In January, he said, “I oppose vouchers.” And in July, he said, “I am not a charter school fan.” And Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, has previously staked out a similarly radical position on school choice and spoken out against charter schools and vouchers.
But with the coronavirus pandemic, school closures, and bureaucrats obviously playing politics at the expense of our children, parental school choice increasingly seems like a good option for more families across the country. And according to polling, it’s an issue that could move a significant number of key voter blocs from Democrat to Republican.
According to Club for Growth PAC polling in Arizona, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, all key swing states, 55% of suburban moms, 52% of all independents, and 54% of Hispanics are more likely to vote against Biden once they learn he has taken the position of closing down schools and denying parents alternatives.
Public schools aren’t free; they’re paid for by our taxes. And the pandemic has parents questioning how the funding works and who is best served by the status quo of the money following the bureaucrat instead of the student.
According to the Reason Foundation, the United States spends more than $15,000 per student per year, and in some places, that number is even higher. Washington spends more than $31,000 per student per year. That’s a lot of money that parents could use to pay for schools that are open and haven’t conditioned their reopening on defunding the police, higher taxes, and Medicare for all.
Even as experts and studies all say our children should be back in school, the education bureaucrats are making it more and more obvious that these shutdowns have nothing to do with health and everything to do with leftist politics. School closures are also costing people their jobs. According to research by Brevan Howard Asset Management, more than 4 million parents could lose their jobs unless they find viable child care alternatives.
This overt politicking at the expense of our children isn’t just distasteful to conservatives. Parents of all political persuasions are demanding accountability for their money, and we are starting to see some progress.
Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina campaigned against parental choice but was recently forced to support an expansion in funding for parental choice by parents and the Republican legislature. Unsurprisingly, public sentiment in this important swing state is moving toward giving parents control over their children’s education. Cooper simply couldn’t hold off the public pressure.
This is the most important issue facing many families right now. Voters deserve a robust and thoughtful debate on parental school choice. Biden and Harris have made their blind support of education bureaucrats clear, putting politics above students. Voters deserve to know.
David McIntosh is the president of Club for Growth Action, the nation’s leading group promoting economic freedom through legislative involvement, issue advocacy, research, and education.
