{"id":348688,"date":"2026-09-16T21:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348688\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T21:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:48:13","slug":"nyc-teachers-union-flexes-political-muscle-in-bid-to-unwind-hochul-support-for-trump-voucher-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348688\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC teachers union flexes political muscle in bid to unwind Hochul support for Trump voucher plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York teachers unions and supporters in the labor movement and the Democratic party rallied Wednesday to urge Gov. Hochul to reject President Trump\u2019s signature school voucher plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hochul, a moderate Democrat, first announced her intention to opt into the Republican-led federal tax credit program<\/a> in May. Governors must sign onto the plan in order for families in their states to receive scholarships from various organizations, which can be used to help pay for private school tuition. Under the Trump plan, taxpayers woul get a dollar-for-dollar credit of up to $1,700 for donations to approved nonprofits, which would help fill those organizations\u2019 coffers.<\/p>\n

But the United Federation of Teachers and the New York State United Teachers \u2014 with the support of Democratic members of the state Legislature, labor unions, education advocates, civil rights groups, and faith leaders \u2014 said Hochul should reconsider her position. The unions estimated more than 80 organizations were represented at the rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bad thing,\u201d said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. \u201cIt\u2019s a bad thing when it comes to all of the children in our state who go to public schools. It is a bad thing when we say we\u2019re going to take taxpayer money and give it to folks with no accountability \u2014 none.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office disputed the program could siphon away funding from public education.<\/p>\n

The organizations under the plan grant scholarships that can be used for not only private or religious school tuition,<\/a> but also for tutoring, after-school, school buses, special education services and other educational expenses, including at public schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Hochul\u2019s priority is making sure every student receives an education that best meets their needs, which is why she wants the federal scholarship tax credit to benefit all New York students,\u201d said Jonah Allon, a spokesman for Hochul. \u201cThese credits have the potential to expand academic opportunity for public and private school students across our state without diverting resources from public schools or state and local budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Gov. Kathy Hochul and President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Families who earn up to 300% of their area\u2019s median income \u2014 or up to $309,000 in New York City<\/a>, according to some estimates \u2014 may be eligible for the scholarships. Parents who already pay for private schools, but meet the income eligibility requirement, could also qualify.<\/p>\n

The teachers unions and their allies at the rally questioned the Trump administration\u2019s motivations, warning the program could divert enrollment and per-pupil funding from public schools, and redirect resources to private schools with less oversight and accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is meant as a de-funding mechanism. It is meant to actually take money out of public schools,\u201d said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. \u201cIt is meant to help people who are already in private schools. That\u2019s what\u2019s happened across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a show of political strength, Weingarten shouted out the many groups in attendance \u2014 from labor unions that included the Teamsters and Hotel Trades Council, to civil rights groups such as the NAACP and the New York City Civil Liberties Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome will tell us this is about free money from the federal government,\u201d added Melinda Person, president of New York State United Teachers. \u201cThere is no such thing as free money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AFTAFT President Randi Weingarten speaks as teachers union reps, elected officials, civil rights groups and education advocates rally at the United Federation of Teachers headquarters Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, to urge Gov. Hochul to opt out of a Republican-led federal tax credit scholarship program. (Cayla Bamberger \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

State Assemblyman Michael Benedetto (D-Bronx), chair of the education committee, said it was up to Hochul to decide whether to opt into the program, despite the governor having already announced that she intends to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a very intelligent governor in the State of New York,\u201d Benedetto said. \u201cShe makes wonderful decisions. I hope she makes a decision that is a right decision on this \u2014 and is not a decision that she will be remembered for in the future as making the wrong decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the rally, Mulgrew told reporters that if the governor opts in, New York City\u2019s public school system should not try to collect any funding through the scholarships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think New York City schools should never \u2014 I don\u2019t think any school in the state should be part of this because it will have ridiculous consequences down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office explained the program is designed so that a New Yorker can claim the federal tax credit, whether Hochul opts in or not \u2014 which will determine if the scholarship can benefit local students. State and local governments have also increasingly moved away from penalizing public schools for decreased enrollment<\/a>, though the policy is widely debated.<\/p>\n

\"StateState Assemblyman and Education Committee Chair Michael Benedetto speaks as teachers union reps, elected officials, civil rights groups and education advocates rally at the United Federation of Teachers headquarters Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, to urge Gov. Hochul to opt out of a Republican-led federal tax credit scholarship program. (Cayla Bamberger \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The flex of political muscle came as the race for governor kicks into high gear. In November, Hochul must fend off Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive.<\/p>\n

Hochul did not face a Democratic primary that could have forced her to shore up support on the left. Her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, dropped out of the race as the path narrowed for a progressive challenger with Mayor Mamdani\u2019s endorsement of the sitting governor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neither the president of the state nor city teachers union has considered pulling their support of Hochul, Mulgew and Person told reporters.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration is expected to issue final regulations later this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York teachers unions and supporters in the labor movement and the Democratic party rallied Wednesday to urge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[67,85,267,9,24,55,54,264,12,56],"class_list":["post-348688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-education","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}