High Profile Democrats Demand Meaningful Education Reform

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The Democratic Party has long been known as “the education party,” but its reputation has taken a hit of late. At the same time, recent polls show that Republicans are gaining trust on education issues, especially after the COVID school closures sparked battles over parental rights, curriculum, school choice, and ties to the teachers’ unions.

But now, some prominent Democrats have stepped up. Arne Duncan, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Education under President Obama, recently joined Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), a national policy advocacy group, as a senior fellow to advise on the party’s education strategy. His work with the group aims to strengthen the party’s stance on education in this year’s gubernatorial races.

Referring to Democrats, Duncan states, “We don’t have goals. We don’t have strategies to achieve them. We don’t have metrics to measure them, and we don’t have public transparency. We’re lost, and we’ve broken trust with parents, and so I feel, again, a moral and educational obligation to try and help more.”

In a recent Washington Post op-ed co-written with DFER CEO, Jorge Elorza, the two contend that students at every grade level are falling behind. “Fourth-graders struggle with basic reading. Eighth-grade science scores have declined. Twelfth-graders are performing at generational lows in both reading and math. The cracks in our education system are forming early and widening across K-12.”

Duncan and Elorza stress the importance of states taking advantage of the Educational Choice for Children Act. Starting in 2027, this new Republican-initiated, dollar-for-dollar tax credit program will allow taxpayers nationwide to donate up to $1,700 to a Scholarship-Granting Organization and use that donation to reduce their federal tax bill. The SGO then allocates funds to provide scholarships that cover expenses such as tuition at private and religious schools, textbooks, tutoring, educational therapies, transportation, technology, and other education-related costs. Students—including those in public schools—whose households earn up to three times the local median income will be eligible for scholarships.

In another Washington Post op-ed, Elorza and Ben Austin, a former Clinton White House staffer who authored California’s landmark parent trigger law, write that Democrats have “remained tethered to institutions, frameworks and assumptions from a political era that is disappearing. If they don’t adapt, they risk becoming the minority party in a political order they had little role in shaping.”

They add, “K-12 education might not be the first issue that comes to mind when diagnosing Democratic drift, but if you want to understand how Democrats went from the party of reform to defenders of the status quo, start with public schools.”

Another high-profile Democrat who has been very vocal about educational change is Rahm Emanuel, who served as the White House chief of staff from 2009 to 2010 under President Obama and as mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019. He states, “For decades, when pollsters asked voters which party they trusted more on education, Democrats maintained, on average, a 14-point advantage. More recently, that gap closed, then flipped to favor Republicans. That’s in part because we made the grave error of refusing to reopen schools during the pandemic, even when the evidence suggested it was safe.”

Charles Barone, former director of policy at DFER, takes a healthy swipe at the teachers’ unions, asserting, “Democrats must come to an understanding with teachers’ unions and white progressives that unconditional opposition to innovation, accountability, and public school choice is a political and moral dead end. The unions’ positions are at odds with both an overwhelming body of evidence and public opinion, even among Democrats. You can be pro-teacher and even pro-union and still demand innovation and results. That should be the party’s goal.”

Yes, much of the blame falls on the teachers’ unions, which are by far the biggest obstacle to real education reform. The union leaders’ main focus is protecting their own interests, showing little concern for students or their families, and they often spout twaddle and outright lies when topics like “school choice” or “parental freedom” arise.

For example, when discussing the new tax-credit bill, National Education Association president Becky Pringle incoherently argues, “The senators who voted for this bill are turning their backs on those who need their support the most. This bill will devastate our schools and communities—all to finance massive tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, absurdly claims that the scholarship law is a “direct attack on all that parents and families hold dear; it’s a ham-fisted, recycled, and likely illegal scheme to diminish choice and deny classrooms resources to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.”

It’s crucial to recognize that although teacher union leaders oppose school choice, it remains popular among Black and Hispanic communities. A recent poll revealed that 63% of Hispanics and 68% of Blacks—groups most in need of choice—support a private option.

The tax-credit law, which allows states to opt in voluntarily, has been gaining support across the country, even in blue states.

Most recently, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, decided to opt the state into the program. There is some pushback, however, as bill HB 26-1292 has been introduced to bar most of the state’s private schools from participating. It is scheduled for a hearing shortly.

There are still Democratic opponents to the tax-credit measure, of course. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican lawmaker’s bill that would have authorized the state to join the federal program, stating that he opposed the national expansion of private school choice and that public funds should be allocated only to public schools.

Ultimately, neither Democrats nor Republicans are satisfied with the current state of education in the U.S. In 1973, 61% of Republicans and 60% of Democrats said they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in America’s public schools. But by 2022, that figure had dropped to 43% among Democrats and just 14% among Republicans.

Although these numbers are quite troubling, the demand for change from Democratic leaders provides some hope.

Larry Sand is a retired 28-year classroom teacher who served as president of the nonprofit California Teachers Empowerment Network from 2006 to 2025. He now focuses on raising awareness about our failing education system.