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Putting parents in charge
I’m still reeling from the kingmaker role played by the teachers’ unions in my home town of Waterloo last Thursday. I find it worrisome that the teachers’ unions are so powerful. If they can determine the outcome of this hotly-contested bye-election, then other politicians of all stripes - if they want to be re-elected - will need to have policies that cater to the teachers’ unions.
As Mitt Romney points out: “The teachers unions don’t fight for our children.That’s our job. And our job keeps getting harder because the unions wield outsized influence in elections and campaigns.”
More from the same article: “Romney argued that President Obama was hamstrung when it came to the issue of education reform because 90 percent of the money given to political campaigns by teachers unions went to Democrats in 2008. ‘Most likely, he would have liked to do more,’ Romney said of Obama. ‘But the teachers unions are one of the Democrats’ biggest donors, and one of the President’s biggest campaign supporters. So, President Obama has been unable to stand up to union bosses, and unwilling to stand up for our kids.’”
The first video in the article is well worth watching. If elected president, Mr. Romney would expand school choice to make it possible for every low-income parent and every parent of a special-needs child to choose his or her school, be it a regular public school, a charter public school, or a private school.