Why Won't Whitmer Approve Free School Choice Vouchers?

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can greenlight scholarships for Michigan K-12 students, and tax breaks Michigan families. Or she can placate the teachers unions. She cannot do both.

Whitmer and President Donald Trump have come a long way from 2020, when Trump wouldn’t even say her name, calling her “That Woman from Michigan.” Just this week, Whitmer visited the White House and Trump said they’d work together to remove Asian Carp from the Great Lakes.

But on school vouchers, Trump has Whitmer in a double bind.

The One Big Beautiful Law allows tax-refundable $1,700 donations into scholarship funds. These funds can be used for private-school tuition.

There is a catch. States have to opt in. So far, about half of states have. Michigan is not one of them.

The vouchers are a curve ball. No Democrat knows how to hit it.

Even Whitmer’s cheering section in Lansing, the Detroit News, noted the bind Whitmer is in.

Whitmer claims she lacks “guidance” from the feds on what to do next.

"They've not put out any guidance," Whitmer told the News. "I'm always going to leverage as much in terms of investment as we can for education and help people keep money in their pockets, but there's very little actual detail that's been released on this particular subject."

In truth, the guidance Whitmer wants will come from teachers unions. They’re an essential player in the Democrat coalition. Whitmer’s not on the ballot, but 2026 is an election year.

What Whitmer has to calculate now is, what’s worse for the Democrat-Media Coalition? Tax refundable vouchers to private schools, which don’t siphon even a dollar from the public? Or showing solidarity with unions that put Democrats into office?

Teachers unions hate school vouchers, because private schools aren’t typically unionized. Every child and every dollar that flows outside the public school system is a dollar that doesn’t reach their coffers.

The Michigan Education Association claimed that “hometown schools” would be “at risk” because of the voucher program.

“When we invest in our neighborhood public schools,” the union says, “we’re not just supporting students and teachers; we’re building a skilled workforce, vibrant neighborhoods, and a future where everyone can thrive.”

But that’s not how it’s going in Michigan. By one measure, Michigan public schools rank 44th out of just 50 states. Bottom-six schools are not the path to “a future where everyone can thrive.”

When the dollar follows the child, as activists like Corey DeAngelis have pushed for, that would be game over for public schools. If taxpayers weren’t forced to fund them, and parents weren’t robbed of alternatives, the whole system would collapse.

Kids would still get an education. Kids got an education for centuries before “public schools” were a thing, let alone teachers unions. But in a world of school choice, unions would be cut off the money tree.

They know this. Which is why they don’t want you to have choices. It’s why they fund politicians who use their power to cut off school choice.

Which way, Gov. Whitmer? Kids and choice and tax cuts? Or trapping the future of the state in bottom-10 schools where they won’t learn to read.

Choose wisely, governor. The whole state is watching.