Dear Friend of Educational Choice,
Voters reject the status quo in education. They applaud bold change for children, and they want more.
That’s the message voters sent last week in the dramatic midterm election results. In each of the states where the American Federation for Children’s affiliated political committees engaged, we were able to help elect or protect many school choice policymakers to state legislative office.
• AFC and its political committees invested in a total of 259 races, including both the 2014 primary and general elections.
• Our spending totaled $4.5 million highly targeted dollars to defend, strengthen, or create school choice-friendly legislatures in nine states.
• 91 percent of our endorsed candidates won their races in the general election, and 80 percent won in the primary.
• Governors who have boldly stood up for vouchers, tax credit choice programs, and charter school expansion were re-elected, despite well-funded and relentless opposition from the teachers’ union. Governors Scott Walker (WI), John Kasich (OH), Rick Scott (FL) and Nathan Deal (GA) all won.
Governor Rick Scott’s victory in Florida is particularly striking, as his margin of victory matches the increased number of African-Americans who voted for him this election (compared to 2010). After the teachers union and school boards association sued to stop the new Education Savings Account and existing, bipartisan-supported tax credit scholarship program, Democratic candidate and former Governor Charlie Crist flip-flopped and became an opponent of these programs after having previously supported them as Governor, forcing the issue into the center of the campaign. Our Florida affiliate worked aggressively to inform parents of the nearly 70,000 scholarship program students of Crist’s support for the lawsuit that would take away their child’s scholarship.
Here are links to some of the news coverage about Florida’s elections:
• Election Altered Balance of Florida’s School Choice Debate
• School Choice Backer Scott Sees Rise in Black Support in Florida
The unions and other defenders of the status quo suffered massive losses at the polls last week, as voters sent the message that they continue to support bold and innovative education reform.
However, this is not the time to rest on laurels; we must continue to keep the momentum going! The unions spent more than $80 million on elections this cycle, yet their reservoir of funding is deep and on the way to being replenished. If we are to keep momentum going, we must raise the resources necessary to fight, and ultimately win, this battle.
If you want to continue to make a decisive difference by supporting school choice policymakers and legislation, please go to http://www.federationforchildren.org/donate-american-federation-children/ and set up a recurring monthly donation of only $7 a month. Through your consistent giving, we will be able to do even more by supporting strong policy that allows more children to get into good schools and enjoy a quality education.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Greg Brock
Executive Director
American Federation for Children
…the nation’s voice for educational choice