Your Tax Dollars Are Funding a Second School System

The winning message: accountability + property tax relief + teacher pay raises

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Let’s get after it.

Your Tax Dollars Are Funding a Second School System. You Have Zero Say in How That Money Gets Spent.

Let that sink in….

Public school funding is being gutted across the country, and most people don’t even know it’s happening. Here’s what they don’t tell you: school vouchers went from a “small program for struggling kids” to a billion-dollar pipeline funneling taxpayer money to private schools — and 90% of voucher recipients never attended public school to begin with.

In this episode, education policy experts Andy Spears (Tennessee Education Report) and Stephen Dyer (10th Period) break down what Democrats keep getting wrong on education and why conceding this debate to the GOP is a losing strategy we can’t afford.

We cover:

• The corruption behind voucher votes (Tennessee’s House Speaker is now in jail)!!!

• Why $8.5 billion in Ohio voucher spending has never been audited — not a single penny

• Why Democrats lose when they defend “school choice” instead of framing it as diverting public dollars to private schools

• The winning message: accountability + property tax relief + teacher pay raises

• How to stop fighting on defense and start offering voters something to vote for

Here’s the hard truth: Democrats keep adopting GOP language (”school choice”) and going on defense. Meanwhile, Republicans have played the long game for 30 years — funding candidates who support vouchers, messaging consistently, and building a second system with your tax dollars while public schools consolidate, cut staff, and close playgrounds due to lack of maintenance funds.

This isn’t just an Ohio or Tennessee problem. It’s happening in Indiana, Arizona, North Carolina, and your state too. And until Democrats stop shying away from this fight, stop getting in the policy weeds, and start hammering accountability, affordability, and receipts over rhetoric — we’ll keep losing elections we should win.

Polling shows 60%+ of voters oppose using public dollars for private schools — even in red districts. The message works. We’re just not saying it.

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Let’s Break this down even more

accountability + property tax relief + teacher pay raise

Why this Frame WINS:

1. It Connects Republican Actions to Voter Pains

The messaging research is clear: voters need a clear antagonist and a direct line from policy to their wallet.

"Diverting public dollars to private schools" does this. It names the action, identifies who loses (public schools, property taxpayers), and implies who benefits (private schools, wealthy families).

An analysis of Candidate James Talario’s Texas win shows this exact pattern worked: frame the issue as "consolidation of power and wealth at the very top, everyone else being screwed" — which resonates across ideological lines. AND a perfect example its not about left or right !

2. It Offers Solutions, Not Just Defense

Andy Spears and Stephen Dyer nailed this: Democrats lose when they only defend public schools without offering what they’d do with the money instead. Andy’s Tennessee example is instructive:

“You could take that same $300 million, cut it in half, and freeze everyone’s property taxes around the state for four years. That’s a winning message.”

Stephen’s Ohio litigation found $8.5 billion in voucher spending has never been audited — not a single penny — making accountability a visceral, not procedural, argument.

3. It Matches What Indiana Data Shows Voters Are Experiencing

The Indiana Coalition for Public Education’s 2025 survey confirms the pain is real and statewide:

• 93% of school corporations report negative impacts from current state funding levels.

• 65.3% have reduced or committed to reducing support staff; 55.8% reducing teaching staff.

• Rural districts report: “Hundreds of millions of dollars are being siphoned off and given to charter schools... and the state’s voucher program”

• One superintendent: “I cannot pay my utility bill... inflation and new laws – and utility increases – we cannot survive these increases without help”

This isn’t abstract. It’s playgrounds closing, teachers laid off, and referendums forced on communities that already feel taxed out.

Subscribe. Learn. Win. This conversation arms you with the frames, the facts, and the fight plan. Because Old Politics profits from your confusion. We give you a floodlight.

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Double the Learnings This Week. No live episode this week due to the holiday — but keep an eye out for our conversation with returning guest Bruce Lesley , President of First Focus on Children. We're talking about "organized abandonment" — and this is the messaging frame we need to be using when talking about GOP policies.

Stop asking if they "support families." Start asking: Who gets left behind when you cut school funding, slash childcare, and divert public dollars to private schools? That's not policy. That's abandonment. And voters need to hear it in human terms, not budget percentages. Receipts over rhetoric. Reality > vibes.