The lesser of two evils

This post is for the political junkies among us who are following the US presidential race. You may know that President Obama has championed some mild education reforms, such as merit pay and charter schools. You may also know that Governor Romney proposes "to turn more than $25 billion in federal education funding for special education and disadvantaged children over to parents, who could then spend the money at any school they choose, including a private school". 

Of course, the teachers' unions don't like merit pay and charter schools, but they hate school choice even more, and so they are holding their noses and supporting President Obama. This Education Week article outlines the unions' ambivalence, suggesting that they may be taking a calculated risk that by supporting the president they will be in a position to rein him in a bit during his second term. 

There's a message here for Ontario politicians who are worried about antagonizing the powerful teachers' unions - it's safe to support educational reforms as long as they are less drastic than the other guy's. The teachers' unions are not going to sit out any elections, and so they will always support the less-threatening candidate.

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