Teacher unions shady tactics aim to bully Hochul into hurting NYs kids

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 provid...