Big Education Ape: CLASS IS IN SESSION, RICHIE RICH: THE TEACHERS ARE BACK AND THEY’RE GRADING ON A CURVE

Saturday, November 7, 2026

CLASS IS IN SESSION, RICHIE RICH: THE TEACHERS ARE BACK AND THEY’RE GRADING ON A CURVE

For thirty years, the billionaire reform machine ran the same three-step con. Step one: stamp "FAILING" on public schools. Step two: blame the teachers. Step three: sell the wreckage back to the public as a "rescue" — charters, vouchers, a ribbon-cutting and a logo. It was lavishly funded, relentlessly branded, and repeated so often that the people who actually run and attend public schools couldn't get a word in.

On November 3, those people got a word in. It's called a ballot.

This is the Ape's victory lap and its warning label in one. The wins are real. So is the wreckage they inherit. Here is the tally, the money that went down the hole, and the work that's left.

Texas: The Voucher Crash Test

Start in Texas, where vouchers were supposed to be the crown jewel of the movement. Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Greg Abbott and becomes the first Democrat elected governor of Texas since Ann Richards in 1990, and the first Latina to lead the state. She is not a former classroom teacher, and the Ape won't pretend she is; the record doesn't need glitter. She is a five-term legislator and former Austin school board member who made herself Abbott's chief foil on vouchers. Her message from the victory stage was blunt: public schools are not for sale, and the days of treating them that way are over.

Then the ballot got better. James Talarico, a former public school teacher who fought vouchers and book bans in the Texas House, takes the U.S. Senate seat John Cornyn has held since 2002. Somewhere a think-tank white paper just fainted. Early reporting also had Democrat Vikki Goodwin declaring victory over Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who made private school vouchers a centerpiece of his agenda. Down the ballot, union educators Michelle Williams of Houston and Adrian Reyna of San Antonio are headed to the Texas House. Democrats also won seats on the State Board of Education, though Republicans kept seats too, so nobody should print "sweep" on a T-shirt.

Now the part where the donors' accountants wince. Texas' top Republican spent millions in the 2024 primaries purging the Republicans who stood in the way of vouchers. That was the investment: millions to build the program, then a general election in which voters spent the fall arguing about it. In one San Antonio-area House race, nearly every question at the only general election debate was about vouchers. That isn't a mandate. That's a liability with a logo.

Coast to Coast: The Roll Call

Texas wasn't a fluke. It was a pattern. Here's the roll call, with unofficial counts labeled as unofficial, because the Ape checks its math, unlike certain "proficiency" charts.

California: Richard Barrera, a longtime union organizer and 18-year San Diego Unified board member, leads Sonja Shaw 58 to 42 in unofficial returns for State Superintendent. Certification is due December 11, so the victory lap waits. Xavier Becerra is also headed for the governor's office, with an education shake-up expected.
Georgia: Lydia Powell, a former educator, unseated incumbent State School Superintendent Richard Woods. Jasmine Clark, who teaches biology at Emory, won an open U.S. House seat.
Arizona: Teresa Leyba Ruiz, former Glendale Community College president, leads in a count that is still going.
Chicago: Jessica Biggs, a former CPS teacher and principal, declared victory in the race to be the city's first school board president.
Connecticut: At least nine K–12 educators won legislative seats, including classroom teachers and a school counselor. Rep. Jahana Hayes, a former National Teacher of the Year, was reelected.
Minnesota: Four Education Minnesota members are unofficial winners for the Legislature. A congressional race involving a Rochester math teacher is headed toward a likely recount, so he stays off this list.
Iowa: Rob Sand is no educator, but he ran on tighter voucher oversight and ended 15 years of Republican control of the governor's office.
Sacramento: Tara Jeane, Jasjit Singh and Taylor Kayatta won seats on the Sacramento City Unified board, and Oranit Limmaneeprasert won a Los Rios trustee seat. Not bad for a region where school board races usually draw the enthusiasm of a jury summons.
Congress: Ed Week's headline says Democrats will control it, which puts the Trump education agenda in front of a Congress positioned to push back.

The Invoice: What Comes Next in Texas

A win on a ballot is a down payment. Here is what Hinojosa and her allies have promised to collect on:

Fire the architect of the takeovers. Hinojosa said in her victory speech that she will remove the state schools chief behind the district takeovers. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath has signaled a smooth handoff, and managers running takeover districts are reportedly bracing for removal.
Audit the voucher program. Incoming Democrats have talked up an audit of the Education Freedom Accounts from day one. Public money should come with receipts.
Use the budget. The governor's line-item veto in Texas can strike a funding item but cannot trim it, which makes it a blunt tool. The real fight is the next state budget.
Face the wall. Reporting says Republicans still hold the Texas Senate 19 to 12. That chamber can block nominees and bury a repeal bill, so expect a long siege, not a quick surrender.

The Fine Print (The Ape Is Not a Pamphlet)

Winning isn't governing, and the other side has money, lawyers and patience. Three cautions before anyone orders the commemorative mug:

A résumé isn't a voting record. Teaching experience doesn't guarantee a vote against charter expansion or for full funding. Judge them by their votes, not their bios, and send the bill to anyone who flips.
Some counts are still unofficial. Barrera's lead, Arizona's superintendent race and the Minnesota recount all need to finish before anyone spikes the football.
Teachers are not a monolith. EdChoice, a pro-voucher group, surveyed 1,033 teachers in late September and early October and reported 51% support for vouchers when no description was given. Read that poll with a raised eyebrow, but know the other side will quote it.

The Long Game

Thirty years of defunding, demonizing and privatizing won't be undone in one cycle. It will take budgets, audits, oversight hearings, school board meetings and the kind of tedious governing that never trends. The reformers know that, which is why they bet on exhaustion.

But for the first time in a generation, a lot of the people holding gavels have stood in front of a classroom, a school board or a union meeting. They were elected by the parents, teachers and neighbors who were told for decades to sit down and let the experts handle it. The experts had yachts. The neighbors had votes.

The billionaires poured fortunes into the hole. The voters showed up with a shovel and a yard sign. Class is in session, Richie Rich. These are our schools, and the grown-ups are back.