was originally reported by Amanda Becker of . .

An effort by Democratic lawmakers to lower snowballing child care costs has a new high-profile front woman: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The New York representative is now the lead House sponsor of Sen. Elizabeth Warren鈥檚 Child Care for Every Community Act, The 19th has exclusively learned. Ocasio-Cortez replaces original House sponsor Mikie Sherrill, who is now the governor of New Jersey.

The progressive women鈥檚 effort comes as Republicans at the national level are calling for larger American families but have struggled to craft policies that make it easier for parents. Ocasio-Cortez鈥檚 backing also comes as Democrats head into a midterm elections cycle where they plan to highlight affordability issues, which polls show are a top concern for voters, including finding affordable child care. High-profile Democratic strategists are already suggesting that universal child care be added to the party鈥檚 official policy platform ahead of the 2028 presidential elections.

鈥淲e鈥檝e turned childhood itself into a privilege, not a promise. It is time that we give all families the quality, affordable child care they deserve,鈥� Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement to The 19th.

James Carville, who advised President Bill Clinton, among others, wrote in a recent piece for The New York Times: 鈥淲hen 70 percent of Americans say raising children is too expensive, we should not fear making universal child care a public good.鈥� David Plouffe, who managed President Barack Obama鈥檚 2008 campaign and advised the 2024 campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, recently said that universal child care should be in Democrats鈥� 2028 platform.

Warren is a senator from Massachusetts who made affordable child care the central pillar of her own 2020 presidential campaign, and she has introduced a series of bills in the Senate related to reducing its cost. If enacted, the most recent legislation would result in half of U.S. families paying no more than $10 a day for child care and cap costs for families in higher income brackets. It would use a sliding scale modeled on the U.S. military鈥檚 child care program. There is no funding mechanism attached to the legislation.

鈥淚n the wealthiest country on the planet, we can鈥檛 keep treating affordable, high-quality child care like a luxury reserved for only the richest Americans,鈥� Warren wrote to The 19th.

Democrats at the state and city levels have already made moves to implement universal or reduced-fee child care. In New Mexico, where lawmakers have been working to lower child care costs since 2019, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced last year that the state would as of November.听 In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned on the issue, and one of his first moves after being sworn in was announcing a plan for universal child care for children under five. In San Francisco, which has some of the highest child care costs in the country, Mayor Daniel Lurie recently launched a 鈥淔amily Opportunity Agenda鈥� that would likewise ensure children under five can access child care.

Analysis of polling done by the First Five Years Fund, which aims to build bipartisan support for child care policies at the federal level, showed that voters of all political persuasions believe child care is unaffordable and lawmakers should do something about it. Seventy-two percent of Republican voters, for example, said increasing federal funding for child care was an important priority, along with 70 percent of political independents and 90 percent of Democrats.

While President Donald Trump has said Republicans want to reduce child care costs, and they have aimed to do so by restructuring tax incentives, he has also cut off federal funding for child care programs in states seen as political enemies. During his reelection campaign, Trump that child care is 鈥渞elatively speaking, not very expensive.鈥� Congressional Republicans have not prioritized legislation related to child care affordability.

鈥淯niversal child care is incredibly popular, being able to access affordable child care that works for your child and your family is not a 鈥榬ed鈥� or 鈥榖lue鈥� issue, it鈥檚 something that people across parties experience every single day,鈥� said Julie Kashen, director of women鈥檚 economic justice for the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank.

From historic test score declines to fractured learning recovery efforts, a teen mental health emergency, a high school absenteeism crisis and imploding college enrollment, the foundation of our education system has been rocked. Amid these trends, polls show parents more motivated by education to vote 鈥� and willing to cross party lines over school issues. 

Over the last several months, we鈥檝e looked ahead to the Nov. 8 midterms and previewed the pivotal races that could reshape schools systems and priorities: New governors that could change course on local policies, new state superintendents that will oversee city and district initiatives, new ballot propositions that will prioritize education funds and potential Congressional shakeups that would affect broader learning recovery and accountability efforts. 

With education driving the political debate in a way it hasn鈥檛 for a generation, here are 16 key races we鈥檒l be watching Tuesday night through the lens of how it will affect students: 

Florida Governor 鈥� As Kevin Mahnken notes in his race preview: 鈥淔rom Gov. Ron DeSantis鈥檚 early battles against mandatory COVID safety measures in schools to this year鈥檚 dramatic intervention in local school board races, the pugnacious conservative has embraced fights about what, and where, students learn. If he is known for nothing else in the VFW halls of Iowa and New Hampshire, DeSantis will always be cheered among conservative activists for his efforts to curb what he calls teacher indoctrination on controversial subjects like race, gender, and sexuality. In so doing, he has both locked Democrats into a battle over classroom instruction and redefined what it means to be an education governor in the 2020s.

鈥淚f anything, Democrats have been happy to pick up the gauntlet that DeSantis threw this year. Former Gov. Charlie Crist and the state party followed the governor鈥檚 lead on school board endorsements, backing a group of their own candidates. The Democratic challenger has also directly attacked the Stop WOKE and Parental Rights in Education laws, unveiling a 鈥榝reedom to learn鈥� policy platform and vowing to make the state鈥檚 commissioner of education an elected office. To top it off, Crist chose as his running mate Karla Hern谩ndez-Mats, the head of Miami-Dade鈥檚 teacher鈥檚 union. The selection distilled an already-polarized debate 鈥� between committed education reformers and defenders of traditional public schools 鈥� even further. Experts called it an understandable political calculation, though not without potential downsides.鈥� Read the full preview of the race in Florida. 

Texas Governor 鈥� Education policies and school choice initiatives have factored prominently into the top Texas contest. As the reported earlier this year: 鈥淎 battle over school vouchers is mounting in the race to be Texas governor, set into motion after Republican incumbent Greg Abbott offered his clearest support yet for the idea in May. His Democratic challenger, Beto O鈥橰ourke, is hammering Abbott over the issue on the campaign trail, especially seeking an advantage in rural Texas, where Democrats badly know they need to do better and where vouchers split Republicans. O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 campaign is also running newspaper ads in at least 17 markets, mostly rural, that urge voters to 鈥榬eject Greg Abbott鈥檚 radical plan to defund鈥� public schools. Abbott, meanwhile, is not shying away from the controversy he ignited when he said in May that he supports giving parents 鈥榯he choice to send their children to any public school, charter school or private school with state funding following the student.鈥欌�� . 

Georgia Superintendent 鈥� As Linda Jacobson reports in her preview: 鈥淎mong the six candidates the Georgia Association of Educators endorsed for statewide office, all were Democrats, save one: Republican schools Superintendent Richard Woods. The two-term incumbent鈥檚 support of a controversial new 鈥榙ivisive concepts鈥� law that restricts what teachers can say about race and diversity in the classroom was apparently less worrisome to the union than the platform of Alisha Thomas Searcy, his Democratic challenger. 鈥楬is opponent, regrettably, has a long history of advocating for taxpayer funding of private schools that we cannot overlook,鈥� President Lisa Morgan said when announcing the union鈥檚 slate of candidates. Searcy was elected to the state House at just 23 and consistently advocated for school choice legislation during her 12 years in office. She co-authored a law that allows students to transfer to other schools within their district, voted in favor of the state鈥檚 tax credit scholarship program and championed a constitutional amendment creating the State Charter Schools Commission. Groups seeking to start a new charter school can apply directly to the commission instead of their local district. Woods also supports charter schools, but expanding choice has not been the focus of his campaign.鈥� Read the full preview of the race in Georgia. 

Arizona Governor 鈥� As Kevin Mahnken lays out in his race preview: 鈥淎mid debates this summer around parental rights, the teaching of controversial subjects, and LGBT issues in schools, Arizona politicians resolved the state鈥檚 longest-running education dispute. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and his allies in the state legislature pushed through an expansion of education savings accounts to all of the state鈥檚 1.1 million students. The shift was the latest, and possibly the last, development in a lengthy war over school choice in the state. And as a political event, it may signify more than the hotly contested state elections this fall. Those campaigns are headlined by the gubernatorial bout, viewed as one of the closest in the country. But even though that race will serve as a bellwether on Election Day, delivering a rare battleground verdict on how well Democrats staved off Republicans鈥� midterm ambitions, its result likely cannot change the trajectory of school policy in Arizona, which will now feature more direct competition between public and private schools. Such sizable growth in ESAs has the potential to reshape the K-12 environment in one of America鈥檚 few remaining competitive states. The change was cheered by Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, a charismatic former news anchor who has been dubbed the 鈥榣eading lady of Trumpism鈥� for her right-wing views and growing national profile. It was reviled by Democratic hopeful Katie Hobbs, who has captured her own national headlines over the last few years as the state鈥檚 top elections official. The contest between the two women will decide who leads the way for a newly altered school system.鈥� Read the full preview of the race in Arizona.听

Wisconsin Governor 鈥� As Beth Hawkins reports in her preview: 鈥淟ike many states, Wisconsin is awash in the newly charged politics over teaching about race and LGBTQ student rights. But the issues at the heart of what has become the most expensive gubernatorial race in the country are decidedly old school. A Democratic incumbent with long ties to traditional public education faces a GOP challenger who promises a dramatic expansion of the state鈥檚 private school voucher program, the oldest in the country.听As of late September, some $55 million had been spent on advertising, with the race between Democrat Tony Evers and Republican Tim Michels a toss-up. If Evers wins, residents can expect him to continue to push for more funding for the state鈥檚 traditional schools 鈥� and for the Republican-dominated legislature to push back. Those same lawmakers have already signaled support for Michels鈥� marquee proposal 鈥� making vouchers available to all Wisconsin students 鈥� even as it is unclear how they would pay for it.鈥� Read the full snapshot of the race in Wisconsin.听

California Superintendent 鈥� As Kevin Mahnken reports in his preview: 鈥淐alifornia鈥檚 race for state superintendent is in its final days. But according to some local observers, the outcome has been in hand for most of the year. Incumbent Superintendent Tony Thurmond might have avoided campaigning entirely, in fact, if he鈥檇 picked up just a few extra points of support in the June primary. Instead, he settled for 46 percent of the vote 鈥� just a few points shy of the majority threshold to avoid a runoff 鈥� and the mantle of clear favorite heading into the fall. Thurmond鈥檚 opponent in the nonpartisan election, education advocate Lance Christensen, finished 34 points and more than two million votes behind him in the last round.鈥� Thurmond was the slight victor over education reformers鈥� favored candidate in 2018; Christensen is an obscure former Republican staffer in the state assembly who has attacked the teachers鈥� union and quixotically pushed to bring private school choice to the deep-blue state. “And while the next superintendent will confront significant educational challenges, from pandemic-related learning loss to curricular reforms around math and English, the debate over the future of education policy has largely remained quiet.” Read the full preview. 

Oklahoma Governor 鈥� As Linda Jacobson writes in her preview: 鈥淒on Ford, a veteran Oklahoma educator who leads a rural schools network, initially thought state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister didn鈥檛 鈥榰nderstand the workings鈥� of schools outside the state鈥檚 major cities. But then Hofmeister, a former teacher and onetime owner of a Tulsa tutoring company, put half a million miles on her car traveling throughout the state. She listened as educators spoke of the challenges facing small-town schools. 鈥楽he was willing to listen and learn by getting out into our districts,鈥� Ford said. Educational options in those communities are now center stage as voters prepare to choose their next governor. Incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt is campaigning on a statewide 鈥榝und-students-not-systems鈥� platform and promises to 鈥榮upport any bills 鈥� that would give parents and students more freedom to attend the schools that best fit their learning needs.鈥� A voucher plan that died in the Senate earlier this year would have opened them to children in families that earn roughly three times what it takes to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, with most awards ranging from $5,900 to about $8,100. Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, a Republican, has pledged to introduce a similar bill if Stitt wins. But Hofmeister, who switched parties to challenge Stitt as a Democrat, has called the proposal a 鈥榬ural schools killer鈥� because it would pull funding from traditional districts.鈥� Read the full Oklahoma preview. 

California鈥檚 Arts Education Ballot Measure 鈥� As Linda Jacobson writes in her preview: 鈥淧arading down a busy street in Los Angeles鈥� San Pedro neighborhood, students waved signs over their heads and urged passing cars to support their cause. 鈥楬onk for 28!鈥� they yelled. 鈥楽ay yes on 28.鈥� The shouting referred to California鈥檚 Proposition 28, a ballot initiative that aims to pump at least $800 million into K-12 arts and music programs, and one that comes with a pleasing selling point: It won鈥檛 increase taxes. That鈥檚 one reason no one is raising money to defeat the measure 鈥� a relief to former Los Angeles schools chief Austin Beutner, who led the effort to get the question on the ballot and donated over $4 million to the cause.鈥� Read the full preview.

Colorado鈥檚 鈥楬ealthy Meals鈥� Ballot Proposition 鈥� As Linda Jacobson reports: 鈥淭he Healthy Schools Meals for All program would fully reimburse districts for offering students free breakfast and lunch, regardless of family income. It would also increase pay for school nutrition staff and offer training and equipment to make meals from scratch. To pay for the program, the initiative would cap income tax deductions for those making $300,000 or more. There is no organized opposition to the measure, but one lawmaker who voted against putting it on the ballot said he had a 鈥榝undamental problem鈥� with subsidizing meals for students whose parents can afford to pay.鈥� Read more about the Colorado proposal. 

Senate Education Leadership 鈥� As Linda Jacobson reports: Senator Rand Paul would eliminate the Education Department if he could. Senator Bernie Sanders would triple funding for poor students and send them to college for free. Depending on which party controls the Senate after the election, one of these men could be the next leader of the education committee. The other could be the ranking minority leader 鈥� setting up a scenario in which some of the most divisive issues in education get frequent airtime. Paul first has to defend his seat in Congress, which he鈥檚 expected to do in solidly Republican Kentucky. Sanders would have to give up chairmanship of the budget committee. Both men are next in line to influence legislation that not only governs the nation鈥檚 schools, but also health care policy and workforce issues. Read the full story.

Maryland Governor 鈥� As Asher Lehrer-Small reports in his preview: 鈥淭hroughout the Maryland gubernatorial race, GOP candidate Dan Cox has done his best to keep education culture wars issues front and center. The state legislator named a right-wing parent leader as his running mate after her group lobbied to remove a Queen Anne鈥檚 County schools superintendent who expressed support for Black Lives Matter. And in his only public debate against Democratic challenger Wes Moore, the Trump-endorsed candidate railed against 鈥榯ransgender indoctrination in kindergarten,鈥� a problem he blamed on books that 鈥榙epict things that I cannot show you on television, it鈥檚 so disgusting.鈥� The approach takes its cue from several recent GOP campaigns, most notably that of Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The Republican鈥檚 2021 win over high-profile Democrat and former governor Terry McAuliffe was propelled largely by controversy over K-12 curricula and COVID school closures 鈥� But so far the strategy has not traveled well across state lines. As of late September, Moore led Cox by a 2-to-1 margin with a 32-percentage point advantage, according to a poll of 810 registered voters carried out by the University of Maryland and The Washington Post.

鈥淒emocratic candidate Wes Moore is a Rhodes Scholar, combat veteran, anti-poverty advocate and best-selling author. Sporting an endorsement from the state鈥檚 largest teachers union, he says he plans to boost educator pay, reduce the number of youth that schools send into the criminal justice system and fund tutoring initiatives to help students recoup learning they missed during COVID.鈥� Read the full preview of the race in Maryland. 

Los Angeles School Board 鈥� As : 鈥淟AUSD school board president Kelly Gonez is headed to a runoff against teacher Marvin Rodriguez in district 6 鈥� a surprising outcome for the five year board member who was backed by the powerful Los Angeles teachers union. In the other top board race, Maria Brenes and Rocio Rivas are also heading to a runoff for the district 2 seat on the seven-member board. As an LAUSD teacher, Rodriguez has taken votes from Gonez because he had 鈥渃redibility as someone who knows the system from the inside. Teachers have a lot of sway with the public right now,鈥� said Pedro Noguera, Dean of USC Rossier鈥檚 School of Education. Gonez, the board member for the East Valley and the frontrunner heading into the election; has led the board on crucial decisions, including pandemic recovery and expanding school choice. 鈥淚 have a track record of successfully fighting for our students and delivering for our community,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 thoroughly understand what the position entails.鈥� Read more about .

Michigan Governor 鈥� As Alina Tugend reports, driving the race between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and GOP challenger Tudor Dixon is a school choice measure few residents have heard about: A proposal that would create one of the country鈥檚 largest voucher-like systems, with the potential to give students more than a half-million dollars in public funds to attend private schools. More than 90% of the electorate in a recent statewide poll said they knew little or nothing about the proposal, which has been enthusiastically backed by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her family, who have donated $4 million to the cause. Whitmer and Dixon differ sharply on measure; last year, both houses of the Michigan legislature passed bills that would have created ESAs but Whitmer vetoed them, saying they would 鈥渢urn private schools into tax shelters for the wealthy.鈥� Read Tugend鈥檚 preview of the race in Michigan. 

West Virginia鈥檚 Amendment 4 鈥� As Linda Jacobson writes in her preview: 鈥淭he state legislature would get final say on any rules or policies passed by the Board of Education if voters approve Amendment 4. Republicans in the legislature pushed for the measure, arguing that regulations governing schools should be left to those elected by voters, not an appointed board. But opponents, including former state Superintendent Clayton Burch and Miller Hall, former state board president, argue the proposed amendment would subject education to more partisanship and would lead to inconsistency in learning due to changes in the legislature.鈥� Read our full preview. 

Pennsylvania Governor 鈥� As Jo Napolitano writes in her preview: 鈥淭he Pennsylvania governor鈥檚 race 鈥� a face-off between a well-funded ambitious young climber already eyed as a future presidential contender and a radical right-wing election denier whose own GOP party leaders refuse to support 鈥� is among the most watched in the nation for its 2024 implications. The winner could wield significant power over how votes are counted in the next presidential election, one in which Donald Trump seeks to elevate an ally like Republican Doug Mastriano, in a key battleground state. Education is a leading issue in political contests across the country with Republicans pushing to remove discussions of race and gender from the classroom while leaning into greater parental control. But the script has flipped somewhat in Pennsylvania, with Mastriano鈥檚 stance so extreme he鈥檚 mobilized school board opponents to take unusual steps to block him while Democrat Josh Shapiro has embraced a school choice avenue usually reserved for conservatives. Both advocate stronger parent influence in schools.鈥� Read the full preview of the race in Pennsylvania. 

New Mexico鈥檚 Amendment 1 鈥� As Linda Jacobson notes in her preview: 鈥淭he amendment would set aside roughly $150 million annually from the state鈥檚 Permanent School Fund for early-childhood education and about $100 million for teacher compensation and programs serving students at risk of failure. The fund comes from oil and gas revenues and capital investment returns. The measure seeks to increase the distribution of the fund from 5% to 6.25%. If voters approve it, the measure would need final approval from the U.S. Congress because early-childhood education was not one of the approved uses written into the federal law. There is no organized opposition to the measure, but a Republican lawmaker who voted against placing it on the ballot said withdrawing more from the fund would leave fewer resources for the state鈥檚 children.鈥� Read our full preview of the measure. 

Other key reporting and analysis on what awaits education-minded voters this Election Day: 

Florida: DeSantis-Backed Candidates Rack Up School Board Wins Across Florida (Read the full story)

School Boards: There Are Just 90 LGBTQ School Board Members. Half Were Threatened, Harassed (Read the full story) 

Polling: Survey Shows Majority of Parents Would Cross Party Lines to Vote For Candidates Who Share Education Agenda (Read the full story) 

Parent Groups: Moms for Liberty Pays $21,000 to Company Owned by Founding Member鈥檚 Husband (Read the full story) 

Future of Education: How Do Americans Truly Feel About Public Education, & What Do They Want to See? (Read the full analysis) 

Campaign Politics: PACs Get Attention, but Teachers Unions Still Dominate School Board Elections (Read the full analysis) 

Civic Engagement: Educator鈥檚 View 鈥� My Schools Are Helping Parents Become Voters. Yours Should, Too (Read the full essay)

GOP: Heading into Midterms, Republicans Find All School Politics is Local (Read the full article) 

Watch: Video Roundtable 鈥� School Leaders Debate How Education Politics Will Shape Midterms (Watch the full conversation) 

Get the Latest Ed Politics Updates: Sign up for 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Newsletter 

While 82% of parents said they are very or extremely likely to vote in the election, just 14% called K-12 education a top concern 鈥� well below the economy (53%) and slightly behind abortion (21%) and health care (17%).

Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, the advocacy group that sponsored the poll, said the numbers reflect parents鈥� hunger for change.

鈥淲e have moved into a position where we鈥檙e not going to be ignored,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’ve seen too much.鈥�

, experts began seeing that parental outrage over closed schools, COVID protocols, and district handling of race and gender issues had given way to more immediate concerns about groceries and rent. While almost two-thirds of parents say the quality of their local schools still affects their family, 86% are more troubled by 鈥渢he rising cost of everyday purchases.鈥� 

鈥淚t’s understandable that inflation would dominate voter concerns since they encounter it every day,鈥� said John Bailey, an advisor to the Walton Family Foundation and a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. 鈥淭hese extra costs will crowd out other spending for the kids like afterschool programs and summer camps.鈥�

Just a third of parents said they know a lot about where House and Senate hopefuls stand on education. In fact, they鈥檝e heard less about schools than any other topic. 

That doesn鈥檛 mean that parents no longer care about politicians鈥� plans to improve schools. On poll questions related to education, Rodrigues noted that fewer parents are blaming the pandemic for low academic performance. They are more focused on fundamental questions about whether schools can prepare students for the future and deliver an adequate education. 

鈥淭he tide is turning,鈥� she said.

Sixty-two percent of parents said they are very or extremely concerned about schools鈥� ability to provide quality teaching and instruction, compared with 55% who feel that way about schools鈥� handling of learning loss. 

Congressional candidates might not be talking about education, but it鈥檚 still a prominent issue for gubernatorial candidates, with Republican incumbents such as Florida鈥檚 Ron DeSantis and Oklahoma鈥檚 Kevin Stitt blaming Democrats and their union supporters for long school closures, mask mandates and classroom lessons they say confuse students about race and gender. They鈥檝e sought to portray themselves as the party most concerned with parents鈥� rights. 

At least one organization is drawing attention to conservative policies some Republicans have proposed or supported, such as banning transgender students from participating in sports and restricting what students read in school. Last week, , a nonpartisan group, announced it鈥檚 spending $300,000 on ads in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri. 

The Pennsylvania ad focuses on a district banning books and the Missouri spot calls out a school board member for comments about transgender students and students with disabilities. But the Ohio ad denounces a bill that would require female athletes to undergo a genital inspection if they were suspected of being transgender. Following a backlash, lawmakers the language. The state board of education is also considering urging districts not to comply with the Biden administration鈥檚 plans to extend federal protections against discrimination and harassment to transgender students. 

鈥淎cross the country, families and students are being failed by extremist politicians who care more about pushing divisive culture wars than providing a high quality age-appropriate education,鈥� Heather Harding, the organization鈥檚 executive director, said in a statement.

鈥業ndifferent and unresponsive鈥�

The campaign was formed to combat efforts by groups such as Moms for Liberty and the 1776 Project PAC, which have mobilized to elect conservative school board members. And over the summer, polls suggested that Republicans were gaining an edge with voters on education. 

But this latest survey 鈥� based on a sample of 1,022 registered voters with school-age children 鈥� shows Democrats could be regaining voters鈥� trust as the disruptions of the pandemic slowly fade.

Forty-one percent of respondents said they have more faith in Democrats to handle the challenges facing K-12 schools, compared to 29% who chose Republicans. Rodrigues said those earlier polls didn鈥檛 focus specifically on parents. Even if they don鈥檛 always approve Democrats鈥� decisions, if the question is who parents think can 鈥渢ake us into the future on education, Democrats still have that lead,鈥� she said.

The overall sample of parents leans to the left, with 51% saying they would probably or definitely vote for Democrats and 40% choosing Republicans. 

But a year ago, that might have been different, Bailey said. 

鈥淭his time last year, parents were still juggling school quarantines, which in some ways were more disruptive than school closures,鈥� he said. Either way, a 鈥渃ommon theme is that parents are frustrated by a system they think is indifferent and unresponsive to their needs.鈥�

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to .

At a hosted by the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, DeSantis pointed to recent dismal national test scores as vindication for his decision to fully reopen schools in the fall of 2020. He touted his parental rights agenda and defended his opposition to mask mandates and quarantines for children who weren鈥檛 sick.

鈥淭he way different places handled COVID is going to reverberate in terms of the educational outcomes for these kids for quite some time,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e got the big issues right. Unfortunately, a lot of places around the country got the big issues wrong.鈥�

The event coincided with the release of a new , which ranks Florida as first in the nation for school choice, transparency on education and the extent to which it keeps 鈥渙verburdensome鈥� regulations to a minimum. But as with recent appearances in and , the events also offered an opportunity to position DeSantis, who is running for reelection against Democrat Charlie Crist, as a potential national candidate. 

鈥淵ou can stand for regular people, and we can beat these elites,鈥� he said, acknowledging the 鈥渂lowback鈥� he faced from teachers unions for requiring schools to be open five days a week. 鈥淚鈥檒l take the arrows. That鈥檚 what a leader does.鈥�

In the , DeSantis has at least a 5 percentage point lead over Crist. Critics say his policies defy Republicans鈥� preference for local control, and he鈥檚 facing a federal lawsuit over a new law that limits what teachers and college professors can say about race and gender in the classroom. 

DeSantis-backed school board candidates picked up seats across Florida in last month鈥檚 primary. But Corey DeAngelis, a speaker at the event and a senior fellow at the conservative American Federation for Children, said the anti-union message resonates beyond Florida.

He pointed to the defeat of nine out of 10 in the Republican primary who were backed by the Tennessee Education Association. 

鈥淐oming out against parental rights in education is becoming a form of political suicide,鈥� he said, citing Democrat Terry McAuliffe鈥檚 statement in last year鈥檚 Virginia governor鈥檚 race that he didn鈥檛 think 鈥減arents should be telling schools what to teach.鈥� Many observers link that comment to his defeat by Republican Glenn Youngkin.

鈥楶olitical games鈥�

McAuliffe during that campaign for having American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten join him at a rally. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped some Democratic candidates from giving the teachers unions even more visibility this year. 

In Florida, Crist chose United Teachers of Dade President as his running mate. And in Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, in a tight race against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz for a Senate seat, said if he wins, would be to the teachers unions.

Democrats are divided over whether President Joe Biden鈥檚 could lift their chances at the polls in November. But some, like Nevada incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, running against Republican Adam Laxalt, on passage of the American Rescue Plan, which included $122 billion for K-12. 

Heather Harding, executive director of the Campaign for Our Shared Future, is among those trying to redirect the conversation on education away from culture wars. Funded by organizations that , the nonprofit is organizing parents and educators to counter conservative activist groups like Moms for Liberty.

“Many politicians across the country are manufacturing controversies and outrage for their own personal gain,鈥� Harding said in an email, without naming DeSantis specifically. 鈥淭heir political games are hurting our children’s education and futures.鈥�

The left-leaning Network for Public Education issued its own earlier this year, ranking states on their 鈥渞esistance to the privatization of public education.鈥� Nebraska and North Dakota, which have neither voucher programs nor charter school laws, both received an A+.

By contrast, the Heritage Foundation鈥檚 new tool measures education policies that matter most to conservatives. States received more points if they support alternative teacher licensing programs and dropped Common Core standards. They ranked lower, however, if they have a lot of districts with diversity officers, which according to their , 鈥減rovide political support and organization to one side of the debate over the contentious issues of race and opportunity.鈥�

The report card builds on earlier efforts 鈥� from groups like and the conservative 鈥� to identify states with more choice-friendly features at a time when the movement to give families more options has picked up momentum.

Arizona, which came in second in the report card, recently opened up its to any family. Proponents of expanded choice want to see public education funds 鈥渇ollow the child鈥� into whatever school, public or private, the parent chooses.

鈥淚f you like your public school, you can keep your public school,鈥� DeAngelis said, offering a twist on the motto former President Barack Obama used to promote the Affordable Care Act. 鈥淚 think we’re going to look back in a couple of decades 鈥� and think it was just absolutely ridiculous that we forced families to take their kids鈥� education dollars to residentially assigned government-run institutions.鈥�