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Colorado Democrat Jared Polis just did something courageous and sensible: he told Will Cain he supports President Trump’s school choice plan, signaling that the education debate is finally moving past party tribalism and toward what matters most — children. Polis’s comments are a welcome reminder that pragmatic leaders put families before ideology and that conservatives’ long fight for parental choice is gaining traction. This move deserves applause from anyone who believes parents, not bureaucrats, should decide what’s best for their kids.
Polis isn’t just talking — he’s planning to opt Colorado into the federal tax credit scholarship program that will unlock private scholarships and education dollars for families across the state. Critics will call it a “voucher” to scare voters, but the reality is straightforward: this program channels charitable donations into scholarships so parents can afford tutoring, private school, or specialized programs that public schools often deny. Governors who choose to participate are choosing to expand opportunity rather than defend a failing monopoly.
Governor Polis even described the program as “a real boom of investment in kids,” which is exactly how it should be framed — not as a threat to public schools, but as an infusion of resources that follows the child instead of the building. Pragmatism wins when leaders prioritize results over reflexive partisan dogma, and Polis’s language shows he’s thinking about outcomes, not slogans. Conservatives should welcome any Democrat willing to put students first.
Of course the education establishment is scrambling — teachers’ unions and progressive advocacy groups have already rallied against the move, warning that public schools will be hollowed out. Those warnings ignore the facts and the moral imperative: parents stuck in failing schools shouldn’t be forced to watch their children languish because of unionized cartels and school district politics. Voters in Colorado have previously rejected voucher measures, but sensible leaders are responding to unmet needs, not to the political comfort of the status quo.
This federal push for school choice didn’t spring from nowhere — it’s part of President Trump’s broader plan to expand tax credits and scholarships so families can access the education that fits their children, a conservative policy goal years in the making. Private donors and reform advocates have poured energy and money into making choice a reality, and that outside support has accelerated political momentum in state capitals. When policy is structured to let money follow the child, families win and bureaucrats lose their ability to dictate outcomes.
Polis appears to be only the second Democratic governor choosing to participate, following governors in other states who have recognized that defending public education doesn’t mean opposing choice. Bipartisanship on this issue is proof that the school choice argument is winning on the merits — and it’s a warning to Democrats who still reflexively side with unions over parents. Conservatives should seize this moment to push even harder for expansion, not retreat into defensive, tired narratives.
Hardworking parents are watching and they know when a policy gives them control over their child’s future. It’s time for every governor to stop treating schools as sacred bureaucracies and start treating them as vehicles of opportunity that serve families, not unions. The fight ahead will be fierce, but giving parents the power to choose is the right fight for liberty and for children’s futures.
Patriots should celebrate leaders who break with their party to stand with families, and rally behind policies that return education to parents where it belongs. If Democrats like Polis are willing to do what’s right, conservatives must lead the next wave of reform with conviction, courage, and an unshakable belief in American families.
