New polling data reveals a little secret that teachers' unions and lobbyists for the education establishment don’t want you to know: Public charter schools are massively popular.

Public charter schools enroll more than 3.2 million students , and more than 1 million children are on waiting lists to attend. Charters would certainly enroll all of those children today if they could, but anti-choice politicians — and the teachers’ unions who control their political fortunes — simply won’t let charter schools expand.

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is the newest politician to enter into this hall of shame.

New analysis of the American Federation for Children’s National School Choice Poll , conducted by the left-leaning pollster Beck Research, shows overwhelming support for charter schools from key demographic groups. Overall, 74% support the notion of public charter schools, “independently-managed public schools that receive taxpayer dollars and are open to all students."

And now, the new analysis shows high levels of support for public charter schools:



Republican primary voters: 72%

Democratic primary voters: 59%

Rural voters: 73%

Black voters: 71%

Latino voters: 72%

Millennial voters: 86%

As the Democratic presidential primary heats up, one has to wonder why Sanders released an extreme anti-charter school plan , despite charters’ incredible popularity with Democratic voters. The simple explanation: teachers' unions and their massive financial stake in Democratic politics.

But why do the teachers’ unions dislike public charter schools? Well, they don’t control them. They’ve only unionized roughly 10% of charters — and less unionization means less money in union coffers.

The two largest teachers’ unions will take in billions of dollars in dues this election cycle, money coming directly from educators’ paychecks and even non-educational staff. Then they'll spend hundreds of millions to influence national politics.

From 2016 to 2017, the National Education Association spent $151 million on lobbying and contributions to other allied organizations, while the American Federation of Teachers spent $44 million in the same category. This funding largely went to left-leaning groups, causes, and super PACs.

These two unions also spent millions on supposedly apolitical “representational activities” during this time frame. They claim this spending had nothing to do with politics, but a 2018 Supreme Court ruling disagreed. It ruled that nonunion professionals could not be forced to pay “representational” fees, because almost all union work is political.

Perhaps this funding explains why Sanders still refuses to support charters. His campaigns have clearly benefited from the teachers’ unions political activity, and according to the Center for Responsive Politics, teachers’ unions have even directly donated to his reelection. Importantly, he may be trying to covet their endorsement for his 2020 presidential campaign. Evidently, Sanders cares more about their support than his constituents.

This is truly a shame, as options like public charter schools are giving families a sense of hope and change in our education system – former President Barack Obama certainly supported charter schools. And even Sanders’ current competitor Beto O’Rourke admitted in 2012 that public charter schools are the “laboratory for some of the best ideas and concepts in public education today.”

Candidates such as Sanders should consider this new polling and break away from the teachers’ unions grip. Hopefully, this embrace of educational freedom will put parents, not teachers’ unions, in charge of the future of our children.

Tommy Schultz is the national communications director for the American Federation for Children, the nation’s largest school choice advocacy organization.