The Rebel Alliance for education reform on the left

The story of Democrats for Education Reform gives way to Star Wars analogies in a new analysis released by the American Enterprise Institute. The rebels won a string of improbable victories, but now find themselves having to regroup.

The report is timely, given the recent battle over testing and charter schools in the Democratic Party platform, set to be finalized later this month in Philadelphia.

DFER rose rapidly to national prominence, sped along by its early endorsement of then-underdog Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential primaries. It managed to help shape the federal Race to the Top initiative that transformed education policies in dozens of states, and hold the line for parental choice and school accountability in Congress.

Now, activists are pushing back against charter schools and testing. The two main national teachers unions backed Hillary Clinton early in this year’s primaries, and seem to be regaining their influence within the party. So the new report raises a question: What now?

Realistically speaking, the extraordinary successes of 2008-12 were unlikely to be repeated on any kind of a regular basis, according to Barone. “That’s not something that happens every year or two,” he noted. And, just like in the movies, when the insurgents have some early, unexpected successes, they face inevitable pushback from their more established opponents. “The empire strikes back,” says Barone. “That’s what happens.”

According to the report, Shavar Jeffries, the pro-reform group’s new leader, wants DFER to become more intertwined with the party infrastructure, helping to recruit candidates for local office and produce policy ideas Democrats are willing to embrace.

DFER also needed to come up with a new generation of policy ideas that worked for Democrats for whom market-based ideas, choice, and vouchers weren’t going to be persuasive. DFER and others needed to frame their ideas differently “within the context of progressive values,” said Erickson Hatalsky.

This was something that Barone was eager to do. Candidates “want politically viable policies. We can patch them into that.” And the process may already have begun. In early May, DFER’s policy shop released a report showing that kids from more affluent suburban districts were taking remedial classes in college.

We explored the competing forces within the Democratic Party in a series of guest posts almost two years ago. Many of its arguments — including then-DFER head Joe Williams’ point about the importance of suburban parents — still seem relevant.

The Empire may be striking back, but it’s unlikely this year’s jockeying of party platforms and primary elections will culminate in a decisive victory for either side. Jeffries seems to acknowledge in the report that resolving the Democrats’ divide over school choice and education reform will require a longer slog.