The DeVos Pushback: State Educators Gearing Up for a Long Fight

Many California education leaders say they plan to resist any effort to cut or divert public school funding under Betsy DeVos, the country’s new secretary of education.

To understand their collective angst, let’s rewind to DeVos' confirmation hearing last month.

One of the more contentious moments came when Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine grilled DeVos about whether she would hold all schools to the same academic and financial accountability standards.

Kaine: I think all schools that receive taxpayer funding should be equally accountable. Do you agree with me or not?
DeVos: Well, they don’t.
Kaine: But I think they should. Do you agree with me or not?
DeVos: Well, no.

That exchange sent chills down the backs of public school supporters because, they say, it shows DeVos won't treat schools equally under the law.

DeVos is a billionaire charter school activist who made a name for herself in Michigan for supporting school vouchers -- the complicated and controversial practice of giving families public dollars to use at private and religious schools.

She calls that the power of school choice.

Critics call it undermining public education.

“We can’t let fear and anxiety paralyze us,” says Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Association, one of the biggest critics of DeVos in the state. “The danger is to sit back and hunker down. We need to now -- more than ever -- come together.”

Heins says California’s opposition to DeVos has now turned into resistance, and the vast majority of public school teachers in the Golden State are gearing up for a long fight.

Heins believes state legislators will stand alongside teachers in defending public school funding.

"The governor is in the right spot on this. I believe our Legislature is in the right spot on this. We will be working together to express and protect California’s values for our students."

President Trump has been pushing a $20 billion federal school voucher program, which would give each low-income family up to $12,000 for use at the public or private school of their choice.

Currently, 13 states use school vouchers in some fashion, but it’s been a complicated and thorny issue in California with voters twice rejecting measures at the ballot box.

In school districts like Oakland Unified, the mere mention of school vouchers strikes fear in the heart of many families who support public schools.

They say Oakland is already losing hundreds of students to charter and private schools every year. A federal school voucher program would be a death knell for the district.

“It’s outrageous,” says Kim Davis, an organizer with Parents United for Public Schools in Oakland. “I think it would be devastating to a community like Oakland. And to me, our public schools should be the most important focus.”

Leading education finance experts say constitutional challenges will likely block any attempt to create a federal voucher program using existing Title I money intended for disadvantaged students.

DeVos’ first order of business is to find a different approach.

Another possible option? A federal scholarship tax credit.

Here’s how it could work:

A federal tax credit would be created for K–12 scholarships. If you donate to any eligible, existing scholarship fund, you could reduce the amount of money you owe on your tax bill by the amount of your donation.

Families could, in turn, tap into this fund to shop for the school of their choice, be it public or private.

According to the Thomas Fordham Institute, a conservative education policy think tank, this approach is "Trump's only 50-state school-choice option," which could "unlock school choice for children in every state in the land."

California State Board of Education President Michael Kirst agrees this approach offers the Trump-DeVos education team a quicker "political pathway." He says states like Florida have already implemented versions of it.

"There is certainly rising concern," Kirst says. "We don't incentivize private schools in California. But I don’t think many people had thought of this federal tax credit option."

One group you’d think might like this brand of school choice is charter school supporters in California.

But they worry families might pull their kids out of charters in favor of private schools.

“Families already have plenty of options in California,” says Hilary Harmssen, the Bay Area regional director at the California Charter Schools Association.

Which is why if Trump’s plan does come to be, California might finally see a coming together of public school supporters and charter advocates as they fight a new common enemy: a federal scholarship tax credit program.