School-choice options including private schools, liberal open enrollment, charter schools, school-tuition organizations, and online education have been proving their value for more than a decade. Additionally, lawmakers nationwide have ushered in an unprecedented era of school reform during the last two years. Across the elementary and secondary education landscape, there has been a proliferation of public charter schools, public online schools, open-enrollment policies, and school-choice-support efforts such as tuition scholarships. In many states these reforms have for the first time truly empowered parents. Yet despite documented success, school options in Iowa continue to face stiff resistance from entrenched factions in the traditional education establishment. Among the most stubborn opponents of parents deciding where and how their children are educated is organized labor, specifically the teachers and government unions. As a powerful, well-funded force in local, state, and national politics these unions are engaged in a continuous battle to resist educational reform and defend the status quo.