Teacher unions’ shady tactics aim to bully Hochul into hurting NY’s kids

NY teachers' unions are pressuring Gov. Kathy Hochul to reject a federal tax-credit program that could benefit 2.7 million local students. Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com

New York’s teachers’ unions are waging a vicious campaign against a federal program that would make education more affordable for low- and middle-income families.

The reason? They don’t want any competition — even if it comes at zero cost to public schools. 

Through newspaper and TV ads and a dedicated website, the unions are spreading misinformation aimed at strong-arming Gov. Kathy Hochul into rejecting a federal tax-credit program she’s promised to join.

Shameless online banners and a full-page ad in Hochul’s hometown Buffalo News blare, “Gov. Hochul, don’t opt in to Trump’s voucher scheme.” 

Their fearmongering aims to bully Hochul into compliance.

If she cares about New York’s students, she must resist. 

Last year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act created a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for taxpayers who donate to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations.

These groups will use the donations to fund a range of K-12 educational needs for students who apply — but only if they live in states that opt in. 

The inaccurate union campaign suggests that the “federal voucher scheme” drains money from public schools. 

That’s false: For one thing, the program’s funding comes entirely from the federal government, with no need for state or local government matching funds.  

It would have zero impact on the roughly $40 billion New York state spends on K-12 education annually.  

Nor would it affect New York City’s $38.6 billion DOE operating budget, which has ballooned by billions since the 2019-20 school year — even as enrollment has plummeted. 

Per-pupil spending ballooned to $42,000 in the just-finished school year and will be even higher in the one starting next month. 

The unions claim that the federal program could mean fewer kids in public schools, thereby sapping schools’ funding — yet just months ago they publicly cheered Albany’s recent Education, Labor and Family Assistance law because it provides “a minimum 2% increase to all districts,” regardless of enrollment levels.

In fact, public-school students would be eligible to receive federal scholarship money under the program to cover a range of educational needs, including after-school programs and tutoring. 

And generous eligibility requirements mean that students from low- and middle-income families would be first in line for these funds: About 2.7 million New York students would qualify, the American Federation of Children calculated.  

Most attend public schools, thus making them among the program’s biggest beneficiaries in absolute dollars. 

And for families who don’t want their kids at the mercy of DOE and wish to educate them in a private or religious educational setting, these scholarships could bring significant relief. 

Even so, teachers’ unions nationwide are urging Democratic governors not to opt in to this program. 

They’d rather deprive students of federally funded scholarships than to let any government money flow to non-unionized schools. 

Unions are determined to retain their iron grip over public education, pure and simple. 

Yet despite their power and influence, they can’t stop New Yorkers from sending money to fund scholarships for students out of state.

Whether or not Hochul opts in, Empire State taxpayers can still receive the $1,700 federal credit by donating that amount to a scholarship-granting organization in a state that does join the program. 

That could send more than $1 billion out of New York to support students elsewhere, according to Democrats for Education Reform.

Coupled with popular school-choice laws passed across the nation in recent years, this would only push more families into fleeing New York for a freer school system. 

Hochul knows that’s a problem — and that’s why she has expressed her intention to opt New York into the tax-credit program.  

She’s right: This state can’t afford to lose more families.

Its tax base, economy, and even its congressional representation depend on attracting and retaining residents. 

Teachers’ unions, by contrast, don’t have such broader interests in mind.

Their only goal is to minimize the risks to their members’ jobs, no matter the cost or the harm. 

They know that if they can get Hochul to change her mind, other Democratic governors will also hesitate — so far, only Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed on.  

The unions’ PR campaign in New York thus represents a proxy battle for blue states nationwide. 

As the city faces ongoing budget problems and Mayor Zohran Mamdani asks agencies to identify savings, Hochul would be unwise to reject a large pool of new money for needy students.  

Instead, she should join the program as soon as possible.  

New York’s students and families deserve the educational affordability that the unions are so determined to deny them. 

Danyela Souza Egorov and John Ketcham are fellows at the Manhattan Institute.