Invest in Education Coalition, a school choice advocacy group, warned that top vice presidential contenders for the Democrat ticket could be "bad news" for parents seeking education options for their children.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper have been mentioned as candidates to be on Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate. All three have been consistent opponents of expanding school choice while sending their own children to private schools, the organization said in a press release.
"Democratic leaders' opposition to empowering parents and giving children the opportunity to get the education of their choice is hypocritical at best," Invest in Education Coalition Chair Anthony de Nicola said. "We need strong leaders who will fight to expand school choice so that every child, regardless of their ZIP code, has a chance at a great education. All parents deserve the same options that these governors decided were best for their own children."
Harris, who has pushed for tuition-free college and more money for low-income schools, spoke to members of a teachers' union on Thursday but reportedly did not mention school choice.
"She had a great opportunity today to be for school choice and charter schools and educational freedom and opportunity scholarships, it's a civil rights issue of our time … but she's playing for the teachers' unions," said Kellyanne Conway, former adviser to former President Donald Trump.
Shapiro ran on school choice for low-income and working-class families in 2022 but, once elected, he walked back his campaign pledges to support educational options.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board criticized Shapiro in July for his flip-flop and decision to side with Democrats in the state Legislature on the issue.
"The Democratic Governor could have chosen to back a Republican Senate scholarship plan providing thousands of dollars for low-income students in poorly performing schools to attend private options," the Journal's editorial board wrote. "That would have put some action behind the lip service he's given vouchers since his 2022 campaign. But last year he killed the vouchers to appease House Democrats, who oppose them, and this year he didn't spend political capital to sway his fellow party members."
According to the release, Beshear vetoed school choice in Kentucky and is working to defeat a constitutional amendment guaranteeing that school choice would appear on the ballot in November.
"Public dollars should only go to public schools, period," Beshear said in March, according to The Associated Press. "I'm against this constitutional amendment. And if they pass it, I will work every day to defeat it at the ballot box in November."
Cooper panned private schools in March, calling them a "reckless waste of taxpayer money."
"They [private schools] don't have to tell taxpayers what they teach, how their students perform, which students they will reject or whether students even show up at all," he said.
Backed by the Invest in Education Coalition, the Educational Choice for Children Act would provide up to 2 million scholarships for U.S. students in grades K-12, giving them the opportunity to attend the best schools for their needs.
The education legislation has yet to be passed by Congress.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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