GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Tuesday that contributions by teachers’ unions to the Democratic Party represent an “extraordinary conflict of interest” because many times those unions will be sitting across the table from Democratic lawmakers in negotiating their contract terms.
“I don’t mean to be terribly partisan, but I kind of am,” Romney joked to host Brian Williams in a 45-minute-long appearance at NBC’s “Education Nation” summit in New York City. “In the case of the Democratic Party, the largest contributors to the Democratic Party are the teachers’ unions.”
The most important factor in having a “productive relationship” between government and teachers’ unions, he continued, is “that the person sitting across the table from them should not have received the largest campaign contributions from the teachers’ union themselves.”
A Romney campaign spokeswoman was not immediately able to provide a figure backing up Romney’s claim that teachers’ unions represent the greatest share of donations to the Democratic Party. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign contributions, the education industry is the third-largest contributor to Obama, behind retirees and those in the legal field.
Romney’s comments come one week after the Chicago teachers’ strike that pitted educators in the country’s third-largest school district against Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a week-long standoff over teacher evaluations and other reforms.
In that showdown, the Romney campaign sought to align itself with Emanuel and Chicago parents rather than the teachers’ unions. Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, said at a Portland fundraiser as the conflict was ramping up that Emanuel “is right today in saying that this teacher’s union strike is unnecessary and wrong.”
Asked Tuesday whether he would allow such strikes if he were president, Romney told host Brian Williams, “I don’t know that I would prevent teachers from being able to strike.”
President Obama addressed the education summit earlier Tuesday.
“I don’t mean to be terribly partisan, but I kind of am,” Romney joked to host Brian Williams in a 45-minute-long appearance at NBC’s “Education Nation” summit in New York City. “In the case of the Democratic Party, the largest contributors to the Democratic Party are the teachers’ unions.”
The most important factor in having a “productive relationship” between government and teachers’ unions, he continued, is “that the person sitting across the table from them should not have received the largest campaign contributions from the teachers’ union themselves.”
A Romney campaign spokeswoman was not immediately able to provide a figure backing up Romney’s claim that teachers’ unions represent the greatest share of donations to the Democratic Party. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign contributions, the education industry is the third-largest contributor to Obama, behind retirees and those in the legal field.
Romney’s comments come one week after the Chicago teachers’ strike that pitted educators in the country’s third-largest school district against Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a week-long standoff over teacher evaluations and other reforms.
In that showdown, the Romney campaign sought to align itself with Emanuel and Chicago parents rather than the teachers’ unions. Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, said at a Portland fundraiser as the conflict was ramping up that Emanuel “is right today in saying that this teacher’s union strike is unnecessary and wrong.”
Asked Tuesday whether he would allow such strikes if he were president, Romney told host Brian Williams, “I don’t know that I would prevent teachers from being able to strike.”
President Obama addressed the education summit earlier Tuesday.