School Privatization in Overton Window?

An article in The Hill asserts that the GOP could "get its mojo back" by standing up to the "teachers" unions -- who necessitate scare quotes around teachers because they haven't been for a year and counting in some places.

Image by Hydrargyrum, via Wikimedia Commons, license.

Can challenging the teacher unions and fighting to give parents more choices in how they spend their education dollars win elections?

Yes. Allowing parents to choose where their kids go to school is wildly popular, with 69 percent of voters approving of the concept. A proposed federal tax credit that would support scholarships to broaden school choice gains even more supporters, with 78 percent backing the initiative. That includes 83 percent of both Latino and Black voters, and even 77 percent of Democrats.

That response can translate into votes. One group with a history to prove it is the American Federation for Children, which supports candidates campaigning for school choice. In the past election cycle, it and affiliated groups targeted nearly 400 races across the nation, picking winners in 85 percent of those contests. They either got very, very lucky, or they are riding a persuasive issue. [links omitted]

I agree that this might help Republicans electorally, but it could do so much more if only the GOP could recognize the gift these union buffoons are handing them right now.

To the point: Why stop at school choice? The unions have effectively done the hard work of abolishing public education, so why not call them on it, and speak about privatizing education as a longer-range goal, of which school choice would be a first step?

I can't see today's Trumpist-nationalist version of the GOP doing this, but the situation is bad enough that even a pragmatist can see that school choice is a winning issue in the nonce.

Should that pick up steam, there is room and precedent to argue for more.

-- CAV