We Did it: Omicron closures surge GOP school choice push

Jan 18, 2022

Presented by the Double Pell Alliance

'A WINNING POLITICAL ISSUE' — The nation watched as Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia governor's race last November by tapping into parental outrage over school closures and using the rallying cry "Parents Matter."

— Now, as the highly contagious Omicron variant complicates the spring school semester and the 2022 midterms ramp up, GOP strategists say it is an opportune time to also propel one of their education priorities: school choice.

— "Parents being able to have a greater role in where and how their children are educated is a winning political issue, and we intend to promote it as much as possible in the coming year," said South Carolina GOP Chair Drew McKissick, adding that bills to advance school choice initiatives, like education savings accounts, are ready to go this legislative session.

— "We look at education as being the civil rights issue of our time," he said. McKissick also pointed out that school choice will be a key issue for Sen. Tim Scott, who's in the middle of a re-election campaign. Scott, in an address to rebut Biden's first address to Congress, said the pandemic-spurred public school closures created the "clearest case I've seen for school choice in our lifetime."

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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is pictured. | Getty Images

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - JANUARY 15: Glenn Youngkin is sworn in as the 74th Governor of Virginia on the steps of the State Capitol on January 15, 2022 in Richmond, Virginia. Youngkin, who once served as co-CEO of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, is the first Republican Governor elected to govern the Virginian commonwealth since 2009. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

— School choice is not just important to conservatives, said Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas-based GOP strategist who has worked on campaigns for Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Dan Crenshaw . "It really has an appeal to those in the broader electorate," he said, adding that "the most successful message immediately is just parental choice and parental involvement.

— "I think there is more of a constituency for [school choice] now than there was two years ago," he said. "People are talking about what went on in Virginia, what's going on with schools in general, and parents, and the next iteration of that should be school choice. Part of that is because groups are having success telling parents: 'Well, yeah, I think we are concerned too about what [students are] being taught in public schools.'"

— Not everyone thinks where and how kids learn should be a party-line decision. "The teachers unions' actions, school systems' inability to act fast or even deal with teachers unions are certainly a bad mark for Democrats," said Jeanne Allen, founder of the Center for Education Reform, despite the attention school choice is receiving because of the upcoming election. "I can see and imagine why Republican Party folks would want to be using this, but I don't like it being used as a political wedge issue. It should be used for people to understand and learn and push for education freedom."

— School choice could be a dividing issue in November or garner more bipartisan support, Allen said, and there are increasing numbers of state lawmakers talking about new education opportunities and legislation for programs.

— "More people are frustrated and willing to support change, and politicians don't do anything unless people are willing to support change … Elections like Virginia exposed this divide with parents, and I think people from any party would be stupid not to jump on it," she said.

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By the Numbers

MORE THAN HALF OF PARENTS CONSIDERING NEW SCHOOLS — Nearly 52 percent of parents considered or are considering new schools for their children, according to a National School Choice Week survey conducted this month. Of the 48 percent of parents who have not started a search for new schools, 18 percent indicated they were likely to start the process of searching for new schools for the 2022-2023 school year.

— About 36 percent of parents also responded that at least one reason for considering a new school was the "desire for a higher quality education," and 34 percent said it was because "the pandemic and/or school Covid policies disrupted my child's education."

— "Parents want options," said Andrew Campanella, author of the book "The School Choice Roadmap" and president of National School Choice Week, which begins on Jan. 23. "It's not just the tired old public versus private debate. Parents want to be able to choose traditional public schools within their district and other districts, public sector schools like charter schools, magnet schools and online schools, as well as private schools and homeschooling."

— Campanella said 19 states have expanded school choice options in the past year, and the education policy has garnered the interest of more parents as they've faced school shutdowns during the pandemic. "I think a lot of people in the past have viewed school choice as somehow ideological or as a weapon in a broader culture war," he said. "The reality is parents support school choice."

— "So what will turn parents off?" Campanella said. "It's when people make broad brush statements and say that traditional public schools writ large are failing to educate all of America's kids — that's factually inaccurate and it's divisive. It also doesn't reflect the experience of many families."

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Quotable

Betsy DeVos participates in an event hosted by Donald Trump.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

SCHOOL CHOICE MOMENTUM 'STRONGER THAN EVER' — School choice's rise in popularity grew during former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' tenure. The percentage of adults in favor of vouchers for low-income students to pay for private-school tuition rose to 49 percent in 2019 from 37 percent in 2016, according to Education Next. There was a also a boost in adults in favor of tax credits for donations to organizations, which is similar to DeVos' key Education Freedom Scholarships proposal.

— The Education Freedom Scholarships proposal aimed to provide federal tax credits for donations to scholarship-granting organizations that pay for students to attend private schools or expand their public education options. It also would have provided federal tax credits for donations to eligible workforce training organizations.

— "The school union bosses, their Democrat allies and the legacy corporate media love to hate school choice, but they do so to their own detriment," DeVos told POLITICO in a statement.

— "[Parents] are sick of their children being held hostage to the political ambitions of the unions and their allies," DeVos added. "They are rising up across the country and demanding their kids be hostages no more. I've been fighting alongside families for more than 30 years, and the momentum is stronger than ever. This parent uprising will not stop until every family has education freedom."

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Cardona Today

JILL BIDEN AND CARDONA TO VISIT NEW JERSEY: First lady Jill Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona are headed to Paramus, New Jersey Thursday to visit Bergen Community College. Biden and Cardona will tout the American Rescue Plan, according to a press release, and are expected to "make a Biden-Harris Administration announcement that will further support student needs and access to resources and services." They will deliver remarks at 11:30 a.m.

A message from the Double Pell Alliance:

#DoublePell – 75% of American registered voters agree we must double Pell Grants now. Doubling Pell Grants has strong bipartisan support because they have already helped lift millions out of poverty. But there are still millions of low- and moderate-income students who are in critical need of additional grant aid to pay for college.

Nearly 90% of Pell Grant dollars go to students with family incomes below $50,000. With almost 60% of Black students receiving a Pell Grant each year – and about half of American Indian or Alaska Native and Hispanic students – these grants are especially critical for students of color.

Unfortunately, the share of college costs covered by Pell Grants is at an all-time low. It's time for Congress to act now to double Pell and make college more accessible.
Learn more.