Teachers Unions Throw a Public Fit Over Kathy Hochul's Rare Good Move to Sign Onto Trump's Education Plan
New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul faced backlash from teachers’ unions this week for supporting President Donald Trump’s tax credit program meant to promote school choice.
Union leaders, the labor movement, and her own party called on Hochul to reject the voucher plan during a Wednesday gathering, according to The New York Daily News.
Hochul said in May that she planned to opt into the program, as governors must sign on before families in their state can reap the benefits.
Under the proposal, taxpayers would receive a matching credit of up to $1,700 by donating to designated nonprofits that fund private scholarships.
The deadline to join is Jan. 1, 2027.
Rather than support this common-sense approach and do what’s right for New York’s children, various unions, labor groups, and liberal lawmakers are ripping it apart because they’re terrified of losing funding.
They held a rally in which over 80 organizations showed up to push Hochul into reconsidering.
“It’s a bad thing,” said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew. “It’s a bad thing when it comes to all of the children in our state who go to public schools. It is a bad thing when we say we’re going to take taxpayer money and give it to folks with no accountability — none.”
Accountability? How about accountability for teachers who push liberal propaganda onto children? What about the educators who receive tenure and are almost impossible to fire, despite their students being illiterate? Where is the uproar for them?
God forbid public unions don’t get their pound of taxpayer flesh. The irony here is downright glaring.
Teachers unions are deeply political and amount to an arm of the Democratic Party. You can’t take anything they say at face value. Self-preservation is the name of the game.
They’ve also been known to pressure teachers who dissent and refuse to join the hive mind. Until a few years ago, unions collected mandatory dues from teachers who weren’t even a part of their group, until the practice was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2018.
But suddenly, unions are the new voice of reason? That’s complete nonsense.
The governor’s office reportedly pushed back on claims that the voucher program would hurt public school funding, and added that Trump’s plan would help provide tutoring and busing services at public schools as well.
Jonah Allon, a spokesman for Hochul, said that her “priority is making sure every student receives an education that best meets their needs, which is why she wants the federal scholarship tax credit to benefit all New York students.”
Allon added, “These credits have the potential to expand academic opportunity for public and private school students across our state without diverting resources from public schools or state and local budgets.”
Families who earn up to 300 percent of their region’s median income — or up to $309,000 in New York City — could qualify for scholarship funds.
Even parents who are already paying for private schooling, but who also meet the income threshold, could be included — and they should be. Why limit school choice for anyone?
Competition breeds success. This could serve as a wake-up call for public administrators and educators to raise their standards and get back to the basics.
They could even try innovating and building a better framework to make public schools more appealing, yet we all know that would require working more than nine months out of the year.
Part of the reason the public system has failed America’s students is that it’s protected by the Democratic Party at all costs. It’s become a cult-like obsession.
Public school teachers and their union backers are framed as heroes, while sound alternatives like charter and religious schools are branded as biased, evil, or incompetent.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who has long been a destructive force in education, was in attendance at the rally and lamented that public schools would be defunded. Good. It’s about time.
Where was this sense of urgency when parents spoke up about explicit books being read to their children in school? Where was Weingarten when educators paraded their political preferences all over the internet, expressing contempt for the very taxpayers who fund their salaries?
Maybe someone should ask Weingarten why New York is shielding test scores of Advanced Placement (AP) exams from the public.
It’s most likely because the results are abysmal. How can teachers be bothered to focus on facts when they’re teaching children about DEI, LGBT rights, the evil nature of Trump, and systemic racism? Why teach critical thinking when you can just hang up a pride flag, preach your own opinion, and call it a day?
National Review published a piece Friday citing student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests from 2024, and it doesn’t look good.
That year, 35 percent of New York’s eighth graders scored below “basic” in reading. That’s abysmal and unacceptable.
It also amounts to a betrayal of parental trust that demands reform.
In the end, it all comes down to power. Public school teachers and unions have been feeding off hard-working taxpayers for years, while producing little more than political sermons and poor test scores.
By giving parents power over curriculum, activities, school board politics, and a choice of where they send their child, it weakens the public sector stranglehold and sends them into a frenzy.
Every family is entitled to choice, especially given how much of our tax dollars flow to ineffective institutions, where teachers are told to vote Democrat down the line in exchange for perks and higher salaries. For shame.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
