Obama Takes On Teachers Unions, Touts Schools Overhaul

I wasn't expecting this...good on him.

Quote:

Obama, taking on unions, backs teacher merit pay
Mar 10 12:26 PM US/Eastern
By PHILIP ELLIOTT
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama embraced merit pay for teachers Tuesday in spelling out a vision of education that will almost certainly alienate union backers.

A strategy that ties teacher pay to student performance has for years been anathema to teachers' unions, a powerful force in the Democratic Party. These unions also are wary of charter schools, non-traditional educational systems that they believe also compete with traditional schools for tax dollars.

Obama, however, also spoke favorably of charter schools, saying that where they work, they should be encouraged.

He did acknowledge in his speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that his proposals could meet heavy resistance in the education establishment. [Full Article]