Obama Angers Union Officials With Remarks in Support of R.I. Teacher Firings

With regards to President Obama's remarks on this issue, let me be the first to say:

Well done, President Obama!

I am pleased with President Obama's consistent commitment to holding schools and teachers accountable, for supporting pay for performance in the schools, and for his general support of charter schools. He has stepped out and done the right thing in this instance. As a result, I am proud of our current President for what he has done here, for a change.

Take special note of Obama's quoted remarks, bolded below. If someone had tried to tell me that was a quote from George W. Bush, I would not have blinked an eye.

[RQUOTER]Obama Angers Union Officials With Remarks in Support of R.I. Teacher Firings

President Obama voiced support Monday for the mass firings of educators at a failing Rhode Island school, drawing an immediate rebuke from teachers union officials whose members have chafed at some of his education policies.

Speaking at an event intended to highlight his strategy for turning around struggling schools by offering an increase in federal funding for local districts that shake up their lowest-achieving campuses, Obama called the controversial firings justified.

"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," he said. "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."

The board that oversees Central Falls High School took the startling step last week of firing 93 teachers and other staff members after the teachers union refused to agree to a plan for them to work a longer school day and provide after-school tutoring without much extra pay.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, whose union represents the faculty in Central Falls, one of the poorest districts in Rhode Island, responded forcefully to Obama's remarks.

"We know it is tempting for people in Washington to score political points by scapegoating teachers, but it does nothing to give our students and teachers the tools they need to succeed," she said in a joint statement with other union officials.

In an interview, Weingarten said Obama's comments about the school "don't reflect the reality on the ground and completely ignore the commitment teachers have made to turn things around." Weingarten said the union was "profoundly disappointed by the comments" and said the president "seems to be focused on . . . incomplete information."

Obama has often challenged union orthodoxy in his education agenda, promoting the expansion of public charter schools -- which frequently are not unionized -- and teacher performance pay. The two major national educators unions are not formally opposed to those ideas, but many of their members are skeptical.

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I have been consistently impressed with Obama on the issue of education. So, I am not surprised at all. He has been unusually consistent on this particular issue, at least up until now. When Barack Obama does a good job in a certain area, I want to be sure and give him credit for that. I regard it as quite sad that I have not encountered more opportunities to do so.

So, it is your judgment and ability to think logically that has failed here, in your faulty assessment of the meaning of my post. But honestly, that comes as no surprise either.

What I said is what is I meant. Barack Obama is the President of the United States, and I want to see him and this country succeed. He will receive my enthusiastic support and praise when he does good service to our country. And he will receive criticism when he pursues wrong-headed policies, or exercises poor stewardship over the responsibilities that have been entrusted to him as President. That seems to me to be a reasonable policy for responding to the actions of any sitting President, regardless of who is in office. My previous post is an illustration of how the support that I have for President Obama can be demonstrated. I hope to have cause to demonstrate it with more frequency in the months and years ahead than I have had over the previous 13.5 months.

In any case, Obama has generally done well so far with his education policy, and he did well with his response to the firing of these teachers in Rhode Island on Monday. I am glad to see him doing well, and I hope he does well on everything he puts his hands on from now on.