For months, Mitt Romney's stump speech accused President Obama of "trying to divide" Americans, an argument which was invariably followed by the Republican's promise to "bring us together."
There was always an exception: teachers' unions. Romney said he rejects all efforts to pit one group of Americans against another, except for school teachers, who the Republican candidate said deserved voters' scorn.
With this in mind, it was interesting to see Romney attend NBC's Education Nation forum in New York this morning.
Romney and Brian Williams covered quite a bit of ground in 45 minutes, but this was probably the most politically salient.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said on Tuesday that Democratic politicians have a conflict of interest in dealing with teachers' unions because the unions contribute so heavily to their campaigns. He suggested that money should somehow be diverted or cut off, although he did not offer details. [...]
He later added that "we simply can't have" elected officials who have received large contributions from teachers sitting across from them at the bargaining table "supposedly" to represent the interests of children. "I think it's a mistake," Romney said. "I think we have to get the money out of the teachers' unions going into campaigns. It's the wrong way for us to go. We've got to separate that."
I realize Romney's developed an allergy to pre-election details, but it'd be great if he could flesh this out a little. It seems that Romney -- who's expressed support for unlimited contributions -- is fully comfortable with lobbyists, corporations (which are people, my friend), and hedge fund managers donating to their hearts' content, no matter what their dealings with government might be.
But school teachers? For Romney, their involvement in elections must be curtailed.
I realize teachers have never been a loyal Republican constituency, but has there ever been a presidential campaign as eager as Romney to go to such lengths to antagonize teachers?
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I watched the interview most of the way through, and Mittens actually had a pretty good grasp of what was needed to have good teaching and serious education in our public schools, thanks to having read a McKinsey Research Group report.
We disagree on some of his conclusions, but not all of them. He's getting to know his stuff.
Better watch out on Oct. 3. This guy is doing his research, and could come off pretty good. Just a warning.
angeleno213 ,,,,That's only because NBC refuses to shoot romneys legs out from under him , the fact that romney and all conservatives want to gut funding for education pretty much dismantles all their crowing around the subject
Mr Williams also pointed out that tuition at romney's private high-school was $3,500 this year , romney claimed there is no direct correlation between what we spend on education / on teachers pay , and kids getting a proper education , I'm sure that claim will be destroyed by tomorrow , and we can hash all that out at the debates
We have steadily reduced education funding here in iowa for the last 15 years , and we have steadily went down in rank among the states
Patango
Earlier this year Mitt claimed that there was no correlationbetween class size and teacher effectiveness. A friend of mine is a recently retired teacher at San Marino High. The San Marino, CA School District is the highest rated school district in the state of California. She has also taught in Montana and Oklahoma. She says there is great deal of difference in teaching 40 kids (Oklahoma) kids and only teaching 2 (San Marino). Romney is full of it when comes to public education in this country
So corporations are people, but teachers are ... subhuman?
How about if first we bar tax-exempt religious organizations (e.g., the Mormon Church) from contributing to political campaigns and worry about the public school teachers' involvement in the political process later?
I'll call your Prohibition on Teacher's Union Contributions, and raise you Cancellation of Tax-Exempt Status for Religious Organizations. There. How do you like them apples?