The bullies win again: Obama does teacher unions’ bidding in opposing D.C. scholarship program

     President Obama knows that if he is to be re-elected next year, he’s going to need a little help from his teacher union friends.

     So when the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers (who spent a combined $71.7 million during the 2007-2008 election cycle) say they want the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program to stay dead, Obama obediently complies.

     Crass political calculations are the only explanation for the Obama Administration’s announcement that it “strongly opposes” efforts by House Speaker John Boehner and Sen. Joe Lieberman to revive the successful D.C. school voucher program designed to allow lower-income students to attend private schools  in the nation’s capital – just like the President’s daughters.

     The teacher unions oppose giving D.C. families school choice because they claim it takes resources away from government-run schools. Never mind that D.C. public schools are among the nation’s worst schools, or that the D.C. scholarship program has been a quantifiable success for students, as recently detailed in the Washington Post.

     The teacher unions only think of public education in terms of how it benefits the adult employees. Charter schools and private schools typically do not have unionized staffs, so the NEA and the AFT will oppose expanding access to such schools – even if it means condemning another generation of children to failure and poverty.

     By capitulating to the unions, President Obama has surrendered his mantle as an education reformer. Instead, he is just another insecure politician who cares more about keeping his politically-powerful friends happy than about the education needs of poor children who live blocks from the White House.

     With three wars and a shaky economy, President Obama knows his re-election is in jeopardy. He needs all hands on deck, particularly his friends in the teacher unions.

     The NEA and AFT are calling the shots now, and that means D.C. families are condemned to lousy, government-run schools. It looks like the bullies have won again.

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