
Democrats Disagree (Again). This Time, It's About School Vouchers.
Add education to the mix.
The party is debating how to respond to the increasingly muscular Republican push for private-school vouchers — most recently, a provision in President Trump's budget bill that creates the first national private-school choice program.
States will have the ability to opt in or out, presenting Democratic governors with a difficult decision, and one that competing advocacy groups are trying to influence.
Democrats for Education Reform, a group closely affiliated with veterans of the Obama administration, has become a leading voice urging the party to cross what has long been a red line, and embrace some forms of private-school choice — including the Trump program.
D.F.E.R. has prominent allies, including Arne Duncan, Mr. Obama's former secretary of education, who is working for the group as a consultant. But its new stance in favor of vouchers is provocative within the party — so much so that two former leaders of the organization have quit and are creating a rival group that will oppose vouchers, while supporting other forms of school choice.
Mr. Trump's private-school choice program is funded by a federal tax credit, and will offer families of most income levels scholarships that can be used for private-school tuition, tutoring or other education expenses.
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