By John Nichols
Politicians who are hellbent on undermining—and ultimately privatizing—public education in America often imagine that parents share their disdain for public-school teachers and the unions that represent educators. It is a fantasy fostered by too much listening to right-wing talk radio shows and too little listening to American families.
So it came as no surprise that Mitt Romney, a product of elite private prep schools, offered a fully tone-deaf response to the strike by Chicago public school teachers. “Teachers unions have too often made plain that their interests conflict with those of our children, and today we are seeing one of the clearest examples yet,” Romney announced. “I choose to side with the parents and students depending on public schools to give them the skills to succeed, and my plan for education reform will do exactly that.”
Like too many politicians in both parties, and too many elite commentators on the right (and the neo-liberal fringe that is so well represented in major media), Romney’s completely off base.
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