Biden’s new charter school rules prioritize teachers’ unions over children

The political backlash since Biden’s Department of Education released new and restrictive rules for a federal charter school grant program in March is not letting up.

Parents, educators, education advocacy groups, and even a growing number of Democrats are warning “the administration that its sneaky push to limit school choice is regressive and unpopular,” writes The Wall Street Journal‘s Editorial Board.

The Biden administration’s proposed regulations would create roadblocks that would make the federal funds hard to access and charter school expansion more difficult. Additionally, the changes would work against charters serving students in urban communities and communities of color, as the proposed rules would require charters to be “racially and socio-economically diverse” — regardless of community needs. 

Who matters more?

But teachers’ unions have wanted charter schools defunded for years. And the Biden administration is prioritizing its relationship with the unions over children, particularly those in low-income minority neighborhoods where charter schools “are most needed, are most popular and have the greatest impact,” writes Jason Riley for The Wall Street Journal. “Unions spent heavily to elect Mr. Biden, and he is clearly returning the favor.”

Yesterday (May 11), roughly 1,000 charter school advocates — mostly black and Hispanic school leaders, teachers, students and parents — rallied in front of the White House to protest Biden’s attack on the learning environment. Several stated that while they voted for Biden, his actions on charter schools have left them feeling “betrayed.”

“I feel betrayed by the White House,” Sarah Carpenter, a parent from Memphis, Tennessee, told the Washington Examiner. “I thought [Biden] would do something better than what we’re seeing. He was for charter schools when he was with the Obama administration. … What’s going on? Does he even know what he’s saying? Sometimes, I wonder.”

Both Pres. Bill Clinton and Pres. Barack Obama supported charter schools, with Clinton establishing the charter school federal grant program in 1994 and Obama incorporating it into his Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015.

“The Biden administration is attempting…to return to the days when teachers unions’ interests were placed ahead of the interests of the families that supposedly this administration cares about,” writes Dr. Howard Fuller, a professor at Marquette University.

The teachers’ unions have long had a grip on America’s schools, and this is just another example of the left prioritizing their interests no matter who pays the cost.