Obama: Romney Politicized Chicago Teachers Strike

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 26, 2012 3:00PM

Now that the Chicago teachers strike has passed, President Barack Obama finally offered his opinion on the subject over the weekend, taking shots at Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the process.

Obama accused Romney of using the teachers strike to engage in "teacher bashing." You'll remember that Romney and GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan released statements supporting Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Rahm Emanuel during the strike. Obama stayed quiet throughout, caught in the untenable position of either cutting Emanuel's political legs from under him or risking losing the support of teachers unions.

Obama said on NBC's Today:

"Governor Romney and a number of folks try to politicize the issue and do a lot of teacher-bashing. When I meet teachers all across the country, so devoted and dedicated to their kids, and what we've tried to do is actually break through this left-right, conservative - liberal gridlock."

In the interview Obama went on to say he disagreed with certain aspects of the new deal, in particular merit based pay, and said testing performance should be part of teacher evaluations.

Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg responded to Obama's statements with one of her own.

"Instead of reforming education and putting achievement in the classroom first, President Obama has put politics and his allegiance to the teachers' unions ahead of students. When Mitt Romney was governor, Massachusetts' schools had the best test scores in the entire country and his leadership expanded opportunities for high-achieving students. As President, he will stand up for students, not special interests, and work to ensure that every child has access to a great school, great teacher, and a quality education."