Every kid in America deserves a fair shot at a good education wherever they live — rural hinterlands, suburbs, or inner city.
If teachers’ unions are standing in the way of that, they ought to be reformed. Plenty of Democrat mayors have actually done just that. Charter schools have been pioneered. Democratic thinking on this subject isn’t as rigid as you suppose.
But I think the problem is more basic: We don’t pay teachers enough. They’re professionals responsible for children’s mental development. We ought to compensate them in proportion to their value.