Is Union/Obama Split Related to 2008 Primaries? On November 4, 2008, the National Education Association called Barack Obama's election as President of the United States "a major victory for students and educators." To be sure, President Obama has done yeoman work supporting NEA's top priority: protecting teacher jobs. Much of the stimulus package was directed to maintaining the teaching force, and other federal spending was designed for the same end.
But the teachers' unions can't be happy with the policies that accompanied the money. Race to the Top, the call for an end to charter school caps, linking student and teacher performance - the President has embraced and championed ideas that are anathema to NEA and AFT.
The latest rift comes courtesy of the biggest education story of the past few weeks: the firing of the entire staff of Central Falls High School in Rhode Island. NEA and AFT issued a joint statement in support of the fired teachers and promoted a petition to reverse the "now-infamous decision."
"So if a school is struggling, we have to work with the principal and the teachers to find a solution. We've got to give them a chance to make meaningful improvements. But if a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn't show signs of improvement, then there's got to be a sense of accountability.
And that's what happened in Rhode Island last week at a chronically troubled school, when just 7 percent of 11th graders passed state math tests -- 7 percent. When a school board wasn't able to deliver change by other means, they voted to lay off the faculty and the staff. As my Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, says, our kids get only one chance at an education, and we need to get it right."
How did it come to this, after a crushing victory in November 2008? The rest of organized labor is asking the same question, as card check and health care flounder in legislative limbo. Perhaps the answer for all of them has its roots in campaign politics, rather than domestic policy.
It seems like ages ago now, but in 2007 Hillary Clinton was the heir-apparent to the Democratic nomination, particularly for the labor unions (though John Edwards also boasted some union backing). AFT, with its large New York membership, endorsed Hillary in October 2007. NEA could have immediately followed suit, but through the efforts of then-President Reg Weaver, a semi-secret Obama supporter, the union remained neutral.
The problem with that approach soon became apparent. Individual state affiliates began making their own endorsements, and they