Three traditionally Republican states are bracing for a new era of education policy conflict after voters elected Democratic governors for the first time in decades. The victories in Texas, Iowa, and Georgia signal a potential shift in how schools handle school choice, LGBTQ issues, and diversity initiatives, even as GOP-controlled legislatures vow to resist.
In Texas, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa has made clear her opposition to the state's school choice program, which she has repeatedly called a "voucher scam" that siphons public funds to private institutions. She has pledged to end the program, though Republicans retain control of the state Senate, limiting her ability to unilaterally dismantle it. However, her line-item veto power could be used to defund the program, and she will have the authority to appoint members to the state's higher education oversight board, subject to Senate confirmation.
The transition could be contentious even before Hinojosa takes office. Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, suggested that outgoing Governor Greg Abbott might call a special legislative session to protect the school choice program. "The current Republican Legislature can pass a bill in special session to move the program into the state school funding formula instead," DeAngelis said. "That change would largely eliminate the ability to kill it with a line-item veto."
Educators and academic freedom advocates see the new administration as a chance to reverse years of restrictive policies. Teresa L. Klein, president of the American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers Texas Conference, expressed cautious optimism. "We're hopeful because the folks who did get elected were folks who were very supportive of our students' learning ability," she said. "We want to see academic freedom recognized and shared governance restored; those are things that we'll be surely discussing with all the legislators."
In Iowa, Governor-elect Rob Sand has taken a more moderate stance, campaigning to reform the state's universal school choice program rather than eliminate it. He has also emphasized increased public funding for schools and universal pre-K. This pragmatic approach reflects a broader trend among Democratic candidates in these states, according to Jorge Elorza, CEO of Democrats for Education Reform. "Interestingly, in each of those states, the Democrats did not tote the traditional party line, which was to be against school choice," Elorza noted. "They did, in various forms, raise concerns about their state's choice programs, but it was more in terms of how do we tweak them to better align with our values and to advance our priorities than entirely do away with it."
Iowa's GOP-led legislature has previously enacted restrictions on LGBTQ-themed books in schools and a universal school choice program, which have drawn legal challenges. Sand's platform includes rolling back some of these measures, but he will face a divided statehouse that may resist major changes.
In Georgia, Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms has largely avoided the school choice debate, focusing instead on free universal community college, pre-K expansion, and financial literacy programs. She has also proposed eliminating state income taxes for teachers, a move aimed at addressing teacher shortages. Bottoms has a history of supporting open classroom discussions on race, telling VOX ATL in 2022 that "to not allow educators to have open discussions in their classrooms does a disservice to students across our state and can have generational repercussions."
Policy analysts expect Bottoms to pursue progressive education funding measures. Weadé James, senior director for K-12 Education Policy at the Center for American Progress, said, "I think we can expect Governor Elect Bottoms in Georgia to adopt more progressive measures to enhance the education funding to fully support schools. We might see additional measures at the state level to increase teacher salaries or to provide more incentives to attract and retain high quality or high impact teachers."
The coming months will test how much these governors can accomplish with Republican legislatures. Their ability to veto bills, appoint officials, and shape the public debate gives them significant leverage, but the path forward is fraught with political battles that could define the future of education in these states. As these leaders prepare to take office, the national spotlight will be on how they navigate the competing demands of voters who elected them and the GOP lawmakers determined to block their agenda.
