Ten days out from the pivotal Iowa caucuses, a new poll further emphasizes that when it comes to school choice, Democrats are blatantly disregarding the wishes of key constituencies in favor of special interests.
Fifty-six percent of Democratic primary voters say they would be less likely to support a candidate who opposed charter schools, according to a poll conducted by Democratic polling firm Beck Research and commissioned by the pro-school-choice advocacy group American Federation for Children.
Unfortunately for the Democratic Party right now, that’s basically all of its presidential candidates.
Minorities such as black and Latino voters, who traditionally vote Democrat, are even less likely than the average Democratic primary voter to support a 2020 candidate who wants to defund charter schools federally, which is the position of candidates such as Elizabeth Warren. Sixty-two percent of black respondents and 65% of Latino respondents reported they would be less likely to vote for such an individual.
Moreover, support for school choice generally, defined as policies that “give parents the right to use the tax dollars designated for their child’s education to send their child to the public or private school which best serves their needs,” is supported by 69% of the public. Support for the policies in general is also high among black people, at 68%, and Latinos, with 82% favoring choice.
Importantly, 71% of millennials support school choice. This is a key demographic, including many young adults who have young children or will have them soon.
For a party supposedly opposed to the influence of special interests in politics, the 2020 Democrats so far have let a major one, teachers unions, pull them away from policies that Democratic voters truly want and need. Worse than simply not supporting school choice programs that allow low-income students to access private schools, the Democratic candidates are hypocrites.
When asked by a black mother on camera why she would take money away from charter schools, Warren misled the voter. The Massachusetts Democrat claimed that her own children attended public schools. This is technically true, but misleading: Warren’s campaign was eventually forced to admit that her son also went to private schools.
The other candidates similarly reaped the benefits of attending a school of their choice. For instance, Joe Biden sent his sons to a posh Delaware private high school. Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg exclusively attended private schools, and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, teaches in one (which ironically accepts students via Indiana’s school choice program).
Staunch Democrat and Milwaukee school choice pioneer Annette “Polly” Williams famously quipped years ago that “the Clintons shouldn’t be the only people who live in public housing who get to send their kids to private schools.” Where are the 2020 Democrats who will honor Williams’s legacy by standing up for children? The voters are waiting.
Kate Hardiman (@katejhardiman) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She taught high school in Chicago for two years while earning her M.Ed. and is now a J.D. candidate at Georgetown University Law Center.
