As education discourse in the United States grows increasingly polarized, the ability to connect with advocates across the aisle is more critical than ever. We get it: this may feel wildly counterintuitive. Many in the education space are not just frustrated; they feel betrayed. Recent funding cuts haven’t only impacted vital government programs, they’ve cost thousands their jobs. Why then, in this environment, should advocates across the aisle look to work together? Because while the division feels real, the data shows that we’ve been made to feel further apart than we actually are and that bipartisan coalitions are uniquely positioned to create change that lasts beyond election cycles and shifting political winds.

Finding common ground

In March of this year, I had the opportunity to attend SXSW EDU, the education-focused SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The last keynote of the conference was by the CEO of Search for Common Ground, Shamil Idriss. It was titled Search for Common Ground: Turning Conflict into Progress. Honestly, I was thrilled to attend. The Bright Matter team had been working internally on how we solve the political divide as an agency. We’d seen a common thread across many of our clients: the growing sense that the “other side” was an adversary, not a potential ally. We saw the opportunity for a more promising future.

In short, Idriss’ presentation was an inspiration. Search for Common Ground, “… works to transform conflict into cooperation by bringing diverse groups together to find inclusive, sustainable solutions to the world’s toughest challenges.” The organization operates in some of the most conflict-affected regions around the globe, building broad, diverse coalitions that foster trust across political and religious lines—and, in doing so, create the conditions for peace and prosperity. Throughout the presentation, Idriss detailed the framework used to help find peace where peace didn’t seem possible. If Search for Common Ground can help build trust in war-torn communities, surely similar approaches could help us strengthen and expand bipartisan coalitions—and, in turn, move education in the United States forward.

The good news is, Idriss isn’t alone in success. A body of research demonstrates the effectiveness of bipartisan coalitions both in and outside the education sphere. Research indicates that legislators who successfully build bipartisan support for their initiatives are more effective in enacting legislation, even in an environment marked by growing political divides (UVA, 2023). Ongoing efforts to cultivate bipartisan support for education initiatives such as the Bipartisan Adult Education WORKS Act and the Congressional Impact Aid Caucus underscore the viability of the bipartisan approach (Young, 2025). Furthermore, lasting impact is made more likely by initiatives that have bipartisan support. They are less susceptible to significant alterations or dismantling altogether with changes in political leadership. Examples such as the BASIC Coalition, which advocates for federal funding to modernize school facilities, and the long-standing bipartisan support for international basic education, as demonstrated by the READ Act, illustrate the potential for sustainability through bipartisan alignment (Brown, 2023).

In 2024, an unlikely trio of organizations formed the National Campaign to Cut Chronic Absenteeism Coalition to address the surge in chronic student absenteeism. The coalition’s leadership included the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank; the Education Trust, a leading civil rights advocacy organization; and Attendance Works, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on attendance. Uniquely, the coalition is the convergence of voices that normally disagree on many education policies. As Denise Forte of the Education Trust explained, “I thought to myself: This is a unique opportunity with two organizations and two people that don’t always think alike on many things, but on this one we could come together” (Belsha, 2024). By pooling their credibility and networks, the coalition elevated the issue of chronic absenteeism to a national scale and provided a model for how bipartisan partnerships can amplify important issues in education, signaling to district leaders that tackling absenteeism is a universal concern, not a partisan agenda item, potentially encouraging broader adoption of strategies to re-engage students.

Navigating roadblocks by building trust

Admittedly, there are significant roadblocks on the way to building or maintaining successful bipartisan coalitions. The rise of affective polarization, characterized by increasingly negative views of the opposing political party, makes it difficult for organizations with differing political leanings to find common ground, with education becoming a primary focus of these divides since 2025. While education historically enjoyed broad bipartisan support, it has become increasingly politicized with events like COVID-19 and the social “reckoning” of 2020 exacerbating existing tensions (Powell, 2020). The disruptions caused by the pandemic and the heightened focus on issues of equity and inclusion have led to greater scrutiny and political pressures on schools, making it more challenging to achieve bipartisan consensus on addressing these complex issues, as different political groups hold varying perspectives on the underlying causes and appropriate solutions. The traditional approaches to bipartisan education reform that were effective in the past may no longer be as relevant in the current political landscape (Blad, 2024). Policies that once garnered cross-party support now face a more divided political environment, necessitating the development of new strategies and a re-evaluation of existing methods for building bipartisan coalitions in education.

One solution? Soccer.

Okay, wait, stick with me. If you know me, you know I’m a huge soccer fan … I promise you I’m not just looking for another excuse to talk about my favorite sport. In Idriss’ presentation, he spoke about the power of uniting disparate opinions with a common goal, specifically in a safe environment. He’s found soccer to be the glue that keeps partisan coalitions together. Yes, it’s true, soccer has it all: the drama, the camaraderie, the blood, sweat, and tears of hopes being dashed and dreams being realized. And the beauty of it? In these team-building situations, the final result doesn’t matter at all. It allows relationships and trust to be built without the stress of losing millions of dollars in funding if you don’t succeed. If soccer doesn’t work for your use-case, no problem. Find something else that encourages teamwork, shared success, and trust. This is a tried-and-true technique; Idriss calls it “The Trust Cycle”:

He goes on:

• Cooperative action, no matter how small, allows people to join in a common cause.
• Shared success advances mutual interests and starts to erode old barriers.
• Trust opens hearts and minds, enabling people to see and advance new areas of cooperative action.

Once the trust cycle begins, change is possible. According to Idriss, “[change] looks like an iceberg calving … when change comes, it’s big. It looks like it happened all of a sudden, but the reality is, that trust cycle has been chipping away … for oftentimes months or years, so when the change comes it’s big and it’s sustained.”

Building bipartisan coalitions isn’t about abandoning deeply held values, it’s about starting from a shared place of humanity. The research confirms what experience makes clear: lasting, systemic change is most achievable when diverse voices work together through mutual trust, shared goals, and sustained collaboration. As we’ve explored, this kind of partnership doesn’t require unanimous agreement, it requires willingness: willingness to listen, willingness to act, and willingness to reframe the "other side" not as an enemy, but as a potential ally. This doesn’t mean ignoring pain or injustice; it means choosing strategy over stalemate. When we begin with who someone is—not how they vote—we open the door to the kind of change that doesn’t just pass, but endures.