You’d think they would’ve learned the first time: Power-hungry teachers unions are once again setting the stage to make children and their families miserable. Though the president of the nation’s second-largest teachers union, Randi Weingarten, just signaled support for mandatory vaccinations for teachers, she won’t commit to keeping public schools open. Many teachers unions are also pushing to force all children in public schools to wear masks for another year.
The demands for mask mandates are unleashing renewed calls for school choice. Unions have put themselves into a Catch-22: They want to mandate masks but also want to keep students enrolled in schools they control.
Ten states have now required all public schools to force students to wear masks each day. All are run by Democratic governors, and most are controlled by some of the strongest teachers unions in the nation. Six — California, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and New Jersey — are ranked in the top 10, according to Fordham Institute’s ranking of teachers union strength.
Meanwhile, eight states — including Florida, Texas and Arizona — have prohibited school districts from forcing kids to wear masks this year, and about one in four public-school enrollees resides in one of these states. Teachers unions oppose letting families choose whether to mask their children, and a growing number of districts in these states have announced they will mandate masks anyway.
Four districts in Florida are keeping mask mandates in place with the support of the state’s teachers union, despite Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order to allow families to decide. This is where the teachers unions stepped in it: Last Friday, the Florida Board of Education unanimously approved allowing all families to take their children’s education dollars elsewhere if they disagree with their public school’s masking rules.
Families will be able to access their children’s state-funded education dollars to attend a private school through the existing Hope Scholarship Program, which had a maximum value of $7,169 per student last year. And eligibility will work both ways — whether the family disagrees with a mask mandate or a ban.
Other states are already considering similar proposals. Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon just called for a special session to allow families to take their children’s education dollars elsewhere if they disagree with their public school’s mask mandate. Last week, Tennessee’s speaker of the House supported the idea, and Arkansas legislators filed a bill that would empower families to choose.
This would be a win-win scenario for families. The main problem with the school-masking debate is that most families are stuck in a one-size-fits-all system. Funding students directly would empower families to choose education providers that fit with their own preferences, risk assessments and values. This is the only way forward without forcing one-size-fits-all mandates or bans on other people’s children.
Families should be able to take their children’s education funds elsewhere regardless of their school’s masking decision. The mask rule is just one of many reasons a child’s residentially assigned government-run school might not be the right fit. But these proposals would still be a step in the right direction.
These moves put the teachers unions in a dilemma. Teachers unions despise mask-mandate bans. But they despise anything that threatens their monopoly even more. It’s a lose-lose scenario for the unions: They don’t want students to be stuck in schools that do not force them to wear masks. But they don’t want to let them out either.
The unions overplayed their hand by showing their true colors and holding children’s educations hostage for over a year. Their selfish desires already fueled momentum for 17 states to enact or expand programs to fund students rather than school systems this year — and support for school choice is at an all-time high. If unions keep it up, they might just destroy their own empire.
Corey DeAngelis is the national director of research at the American Federation for Children, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a senior fellow at the Reason Foundation.